Price fall in large-cap drives stocks down

Country’s both bourses, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), on Thursday plunged as investors retreated to the sidelines amid renewed geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the Middle East tensions.

DSEX, the broad index of the DSE lost 60.3 points to settle at 5,258 points as against 5,318 points in the previous trading session, reports BSS.

The indices plunged sharply at the opening bell, only to see a brief wave of bargain hunting provide a temporary support before sentiment deteriorated in the latter half, as persistent selling pressure took over amid fading confidence and the absence of any positive developments from the ongoing Iran-US conflict.

Apparently, market turnover decreased by 21.7 per cent to TK 7.8 billion from TK 9.9 billion in the previous session.

On the sectoral front, Engineering (15.9) per cent accounted for the highest share of turnover, followed by Pharma (12.7) per cent and Textile (9.3) per cent sectors.

Almost all the sectors displayed negative returns, Mutual Fund (-3.0) per cent, Travel (-2.6) per cent, and Life Insurance (-1.7) per cent exhibited the most corrections returns while only Services (0.7) per cent, Tannery (0.7) per cent, and Services (0.5) per cent exhibited some positive returns on the bourse on Thursday.

Of the 397 issues traded, 68 advanced, 303 declined, and 25 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 20.0 points and 44.2 points, respectively.