Stocks plunge further amid panic selling
Concerns over the impact of coronavirus on Bangladesh’s economy has been increasing, adversely affecting both bourses of the country in the last two weeks
Bourses closed negative once again on Thursday as panic-driven investors went for adjusting their portfolios.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, gave up 25 points, or 0.6 percent, to close the day at 4,384.
The Shariah-based DSES index also lost 8 points, or 0.7 percent, to settle at 1,016, while the blue-chip index DS30 lost 8 points, or 0.5 percent, to stand at 1,462.
At the Chittagong Stock Exchange, the benchmark index Caspi declined 87 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 13,404.
The market displayed volatility in intraday performance graphs throughout the whole session. It displayed sharp fluctuations till the mid-session and then gradually declined, followed by a slight gain in momentum at the end of the session.
Investor participation was sluggish as most of them panicked and took a cautious approach, eyeing the earnings declaration of some companies, according to the Daily Market Review of EBL Securities Ltd.
Moreover, concerns over the impact of coronavirus on Bangladesh's economy has been increasing, which has affected the country's bourses adversely in the last two weeks, the review added.
Other ailing macroeconomic factors such as decreasing private sector credit and deposit growth, anticipation of inflation, and increasing public debt from the banking sector have also contributed to the market fall, the review further added.
Most of the sectors witnessed losses on Thursday with telecom facing the highest price correction of 2.2 percent, and jute exhibiting the highest price gain of 2.9 percent in the sector return board.
Among other large-cap sectors, financial institutions witnessed a price slide of 1.6 percent, pharmaceuticals sector lost 0.5 percent and banks slid 0.2 percent.
Turnover at the DSE decreased 19 percent to Tk415.1 crore on Thursday, from Tk510.7 crore in the previous session. On the other hand, turnover at the port city bourse went down 20 percent from Tk20.2 crore to Tk16.1 crore.
The pharmaceuticals sector contributed the most, 19.3 percent, to the total turnover value, followed by textile stocks adding 15.4 percent and the engineering sector adding 14.6 percent in the sector wise turnover distribution board.
Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh Ltd topped the turnover chart with a turnover value of Tk13.9 crore, closing the day at Tk42.3 per share.
The board of directors of the company has declared 10 percent cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2019. The company has also reported earnings per share of Tk1.50 for the year ended on December 31, 2019 as against Tk0.96 for the same period in 2018.
Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh Ltd was followed by Orion Pharma Ltd with a turnover value of Tk8.4 crore, closing at Tk42.4 per share.
Sinobangla Industries Ltd was the best performer in the gainers' table after advancing 9.9 percent and closing at Tk60.7 per share, said the DSE website.
Tung Hai Knitting and Dyeing Ltd was the day's worst loser after shedding 8.7 percent and closing at Tk2.1 per share on Thursday.
Losers outnumbered the gainers as out of the 355 issues traded, 105 advanced, 213 declined, and 37 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
