Gas shock shakes DSE turnover

Investor participation in the Dhaka bourse seemed to have taken a beating on Thursday after the news of a staggering hike in fuel and energy prices for industrial and commercial sectors broke out.

The turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dwindled by 37% to Tk590.7 crore on Thursday, after reaching as high as Tk934.2 crore on Wednesday.

Indices at the premier bourse ended more or less flat, as the benchmark DSEX inched up to 6,265, Shariah index DSES went slightly up to 1,368, but the blue-chip index DS30 slipped to 2,209, compared to the previous day's trade.

On Wednesday, the government announced up to a 179% hike in the prices of gas the national grid supplies to various users.

Analysts expressed concerns that such skyrocketing fuel prices would hurt the profitability of companies in the manufacturing sector.

Out of the 360 scrips traded at the DSE on Thursday, 76 advanced, 100 declined, and 184 remained unchanged.

According to the daily market commentary of EBL Securities, most of the scrips faced corrections owing to the hike in fuel and energy prices for industrial and commercial sectors.

"Investor participation remained concentrated on particular sectors and selective scrips that are expected to be somewhat immune to earnings volatility caused by recent macroeconomic adversities," the commentary added.

IT companies were the most traded, accounting for 23% of the day's turnover, followed by pharmaceuticals at 11.9% and general insurance at 10.5%.

The IT sector generated the highest price return of 3.2%, general insurance gained 2.7%, and travel gained 1.5%.

On the other hand, the cement sector faced the highest correction of 1.1%, jute fell by 0.9%, and tannery by 0.4%.

IT Consultants was the best stock with a 10% price gain, while Islami Bank was the most corrected, losing 3.2%, compared to the previous trading session.