Selling pressure intensifies at Dhaka, Ctg bourses
The market seemed to have been ready to fall since the morning and DSEX closed at 6,920, which touched 7,020 in the morning
Stocks suffered an intensified selling pressure on the bourses of Dhaka and Chattogram on Sunday as investors preferred trimming their positions amid fear of a fresh year-end selloff.
As 242 of the 376 scrips nosedived at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), DSEX, the broad-based benchmark there fell 0.92% in the first session of the week.
The market seemed to have been ready to fall since the morning and DSEX closed at 6,920, which touched 7,020 in the morning.
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Amid the daylong bearish sentiment, investors' participation in the daily trading activities increased and the turnover at the DSE rose to Tk1,148 crore on Sunday, from Tk1,043 crore on Thursday.
Stockbrokers said the absence of a concrete update on the expected meeting of the top officials of the securities regulator, the central bank, and the finance ministry with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have stimulated sellers.
Investors, in general, expected that the prime minister's meeting would help resolve the cold war between the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bangladesh Bank.
The detection of the first cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country also dampened the market on top of the already prevailing problems.
Also, the recent most disturbing political events such as the US stance against a Bangladeshi elite force and its top officials discouraged many investors to be aggressive in the market and they ultimately turned conservative.
Over the last one week, most low-cap scrips were gaining sharply following regulatory moves to ensure sponsor directors at least 30% shareholding and later asking small-cap companies to maintain the minimum paid-up capital of Tk30 crore to remain on the main trading board of the bourses.
A large number of low-cap scrips opened the day with gapped-up prices, and over the second half of the trading hours, some profit takers came back actively as the stocks sharply rose over the previous week.
Of the sectors, only jute, paper, tannery, services and IT managed to survive the red day.
The life insurance sector, financial institutions, general insurance, textile, bank, cement, miscellaneous, pharmaceuticals, fuel and power, travel and leisure, mutual fund, and engineering were the losers on the day.
One Bank share, which was gaining abnormally in recent days, led the fall on Sunday and at a certain point, there was no buyer for the stock.
Banks, pharmaceuticals, textile, miscellaneous, engineering, food, fuel, and power sectors were the biggest turnover contributors.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also had a session similar to that of the DSE.
