Dhaka stocks plunged on Wednesday with the turnover hitting an 18-months low, as share trading resumed after a three-day general holiday, market operators said.
On Saturday, the government announced general holiday for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, keeping offices, including banks and the stock market, shut amid the curfew it imposed across the country from midnight past Friday, due to unrests centring quota reform protests.
The country had also faced an internet blackout since July 18 that halted digital and mobile financial services.
Broadband internet connection was partially restored in the Dhaka city at about 9:00pm on Tuesday.
The turnover at the DSE plunged to Tk 159.37 crores on Wednesday compared with that of Tk 371.52 crore in the previous session, July 18.
Wednesday’s turnover was the lowest after January 2, 2023 when it was at Tk 146.51 crore.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, decreased by 95.66 points, or 1.75 per cent, to close at 5,350.83 points on the day.
The market started falling from the very beginning of Wednesday’s session and continued until the end of the session, as investors were unnerved due to the situation in the country, market operators said.
They said that a section of investors chose to adopt a cautious approach, staying on the sidelines and closely monitoring market movements.
Saiful Islam, president of the DSE Brokerage Association of Bangladesh, said that the bourse reopened down as internet services were still down in many parts of the country.
‘Many investors did not know that trading would resume on Wednesday. Also, many investors could not come to the brokerage houses to trade,’ he said.
‘There are some other reasons as well for the fall. Investors chose to approach the market cautiously. Many preferred to withdraw their investments, as they were unsure of the market momentum,’ he added.
Of the 390 issues traded on Wednesday, 20 advanced, 355 declined and 15 remained unchanged.
The DSE Shariah index decreased by 21.87 points, or 1.83 per cent, to close at 1,169.55 points on the day.
The DS30 index gained 37.28 points, or 1.91 per cent, to finish at 1,908.51 points.
On the sectoral front, pharmaceutical issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by the bank and food shares.
