DSEX falls 1.36% amid selling spree

DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), lost 92.3 points or 1.36% to close at 6,703 on Tuesday as the investors went on a selling spree due to the concern over the new Covid-19 variant Omicron.

Besides, a tussle between the securities regulator and the central bank to settle issues related to unclaimed dividend and banks' exposure limit in the capital market also contributed to the fall of index.

EBL Securities said in its daily market commentary, "The premier bourse of the country plummeted again as the investors went into a selling spree owing to concerns over liquidity stress, impact of new coronavirus variant Omicron, and regulatory tussles."

It also said, "Investors have engaged in panic-driven sales throughout the week as the liquidity scenario in the money market is tightening and ongoing rise in inflation rate is expected to adversely impact macroeconomic indicators."

Considering the current market situation, the stock market regulator Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and the money market regulator Bangladesh Bank met on Tuesday to discuss issues related to transferring of unclaimed dividends from the banks to the Capital Market Stabilisation Fund, calculation of bonds' exposure in the capital market, and adoption of corporate governance code at the banks. 

The two regulators reached a mutual understanding regarding the unclaimed dividend and calculation of bond investment, said sources at the Bangladesh Bank.

The central bank assured the securities regulator that it would resolve those two issues by December this year.

Caspi, the benchmark index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also dropped 262 points to close at 19,614.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, advanced by 61.95% to reach Tk1,147 crore, which was Tk708 crore in the previous session at the DSE.

On the sectoral front, banking scrips exerted the most turnover followed by the pharmaceutical and miscellaneous stocks. 

Most of the sectors performed poorly yesterday. Among them, IT, telecom, and miscellaneous observed the most corrections, while jute, and life insurance fetched positive returns in the premier bourse on Tuesday.

Following the declining trend, share prices of only 65 companies advanced, 266 declined, and 40 remained unchanged.

One Bank Limited was the most traded share at the DSE on Tuesday with a turnover of Tk189.94 crore, which was followed by Beximco Limited, and Beximco Pharma.

Orion Infusion topped the gainers' table, where its share price increased 9.9%, which was followed by the newly listed Sena Kalyan Insurance, and Acme Pesticides.

Aramit Cement's share was the worst among all the listed companies as the cement producer incurred loss in the first quarter of this fiscal. It was followed by HR Textile, and NRB Commercial Bank.