Stocks in free-fall amid inflation worries
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) announced on Wednesday that the point-to-point inflation rate jumped by 0.07 percentage points in April to 6.29%
Amid the fear of fuel price hikes and the probable rise in inflation among general investors, the broad-based index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed a drop for the seven consecutive days, including a decline of 51 points on Thursday.
Following a high pressure in sales on Thursday, institutional investors led by the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) tried to prevent the index from falling but it did not work.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) announced on Wednesday that the point-to-point inflation rate jumped by 0.07 percentage points in April to 6.29%. Besides, the energy regulator has also recommended raising the bulk electricity price by nearly 58%.
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Brokerage firm officials said there is no positive indicator about the economy of the country. Rather, stock market analysts believe that inflation will be uncontrollable if the devaluation of the exchange rate and the energy regulator's recommendation prove right.
On the day, DSEX lost 0.81% to close at 6,258 and the blue-chip index was also down by 19 points to 2,316.
With that, the index dropped to nine months' lowest position as it was 6,208 on 12 July. In the last seven days, the index plunged by 440 points.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange's all share price index (CASPI) fell over 100 points to close at 18,439.
The DSE observed the turnover decreased 12% over the period from the previous session and stood at Tk668 crore as investors were active in selling off their holdings.
During the session, 380 companies' shares were traded, of which 67 advanced, 263 declined and 50 remained unchanged at the DSE.
On Thursday, the textile sector contributed the highest turnover of 16% of the DSE total turnover, followed by the pharmaceuticals and banking sectors.
Beximco Limited dominated the scrip-wise turnover board, which was followed by Islami Bank and Shinepukur Ceramics.
Investors got some return only from the tannery sector while the rest of the sectors witnessed a sharp fall at the DSE.
S Alam Cold Rolled was in the top position in the gainer list, where its share price jumped by 10% on that day, which was followed by Bangladesh National Insurance and First Finance.
Besides, Paper Processing, ACI Formulation and Bangas were the worst shares at the DSE as their share price fell by 5%.
