Price fall in large-cap drives stocks further down

Country’s both bourses, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), on Monday plunged further as investors’ sentiment remained shifted from large-cap stocks toward momentum-driven speculative scrips, while a cautious stance persisted over the ongoing uncertainties stemming from the nationwide fuel shortage amid persistent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, lost 41.3 points to settle at 5,231 points as against 5,272 points in the previous trading session, reports UNB.

Despite a firm start, the broad index quickly lost traction as broad-based selling surfaced midway through the session.

The pressure intensified toward the close, underscoring persistently subdued investor sentiment and ultimately dragging the index into negative territory. However, market turnover increased by 2.7per cent to BDT 6.6 billion from Taka 6.4 billion in the previous session.

On the sectoral front, Pharma (18.2per cent) accounted for the highest share of turnover, followed by Engineering (11.7per cent) and Bank 9.7per cent) sectors.

All the sectors displayed mixed returns, out of which IT (1.1per cent), Paper (0.8per cent) and Tannery (0.8per cent) exhibited the most positive returns whereas, Mutual Fund (-1.7per cent), Financial Institutions (-1.5per cent) and Bank (-1.5per cent) displayed the most corrections on the bourse on Monday.
Of the 397 issues traded, 110 advanced, 226 declined, and 60 remained unchanged.
The port city bourse, CSE, also settled on a negative territory. The Selective Categories’ Index (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) declined by 7.1 points and 17.7 points, respectively.