Business Report :
Stocks nosedived on Monday, the opening day after a five-day Eid break, with the core index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) sinking below 5,800-mark again, as investors went for panic sell-offs to avoid further losses.
The bourses remained closed for five days, from April 10 to April 14, on the occasion of the Eid-ul-Fitr and Pahela Boishakh, including weekly holidays.
The market opened sharply lower and the prime index of the DSE, plummeted 67 points or 1.15 per cent to 5796 after two and a half hours of trading at 12:30 pm, when the report was filed.
Panicked investors released their holdings after noticing that some heavyweight issues kept falling in the past few trading days, said a market analyst.
“Investors dumped shares of BAT Bangladesh, Beacon Pharma, Brac Bank, Robi and United Power, putting pressure on the indices amid sluggish trading”.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, remained low and amounted to Tk 1.78 billion at 12:30 pm.
The DSES Index, which represents Shariah-based companies, also shed 13 points to 1,268 while the blue-chip index DS30, a group of 30 prominent companies, lost 15 points to 2,016 till then.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) opened lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI -losing 103 points to 16,6629 at 12:30 pm.