Stock market sees incessant price fall, investors lose everything
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
The downward trend in the country's stock market has continued for five consecutive working days. Today (Tuesday), the third working day of the week, the prices of shares and units of most companies also fell. This decline was observed on both the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE).
Before the BNP government took office, it had made various promises to restore discipline in the stock market and protect investors' interests. After assuming responsibility, the new Finance Minister gave multiple positive assurances to revive the market. In continuation of this, the regulatory body, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), was reconstituted, and the new budget also included several business-friendly and positive steps to revitalize the capital market. Despite all these promising initiatives and reforms, the stock market has failed to break out of the cycle of continuous decline.
This persistent price fall is reducing the market capitalization daily, and ordinary investors are losing their accumulated capital, on the verge of becoming destitute. Despite policy support, this prolonged bearish sentiment has pushed investor confidence to rock bottom.
At the start of today's session, most share prices rose, pushing the index upward. However, after 12 PM, a decline began in the insurance sector, which continued until the end of the day. As a result, investors' hopes remained unfulfilled.
On the DSE today, 77 companies saw price increases, while 266 declined and 47 remained unchanged. Among these, of the 46 companies that declared good dividends (10% or more), prices rose for some, but 129 declined and 23 were unchanged. Among the 7 companies offering dividends below 10%, prices rose for some, but 65 declined and 2 were unchanged. Among the 'Z' group companies (which do not offer dividends), 24 saw price increases, while 72 declined and 22 remained unchanged. Additionally, among 10 mutual funds, prices rose for some, but 12 declined and 12 were unchanged.
Due to the price drop, the DSE's benchmark index, DSEX, fell by 40 points compared to the previous day to settle at 5,773 points. Over the five consecutive working days of decline, the index has lost a total of 130 points. The DSE-30 index, comprising the top 30 companies, fell by 11 points to 2,164 points, and the DSE Shariah index fell by 7 points to 1,150 points.
Despite the fall in the index, turnover on the DSE increased slightly. A total of Tk 998.10 crore was traded, which is Tk 3.25 crore more than the previous day. The highest turnover was recorded by Dominage Steel Building with shares worth Tk 52.75 crore. IPDC Finance secured the second position with Tk 51.66 crore, and Envoy Textile was third with shares worth Tk 29.87 crore traded. Other companies on the top turnover list included Shamorita Hospital, Malek Spinning, Beximco, Runner Automobile, Summit Alliance Port, Saiham Textile, and Sharp Industries.
On the other hand, the CSE's overall price index, CASPI, fell by 110 points. Among the 235 companies traded on this exchange, 71 saw price increases, 134 declined, and 30 remained unchanged. Turnover stood at Tk 73.22 crore, which is lower than the previous day's Tk 105.26 crore.
