Stocks plunge on Omicron fear

Indices of both stock exchanges witnessed a sharp fall on the first session of this week driven by the selling pressure due to the new Covid variant "Omicron" scare and the ongoing dispute between the securities regulator and the central bank.

DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), on Sunday dropped 84 points or 1.23% to close at 6,783 and the blue-chip index declined 1.49% to 2,547 points.

Due to the massive downfall, most of the companies lost their share price. At the end of the session, 266 scripts declined, while only 87 advanced and 25 remained unchanged.

DSE turnover, one of the major market indicators, declined 3% to Tk786 crore.

Meanwhile, Beximco Limited led the DSE turnover chart with a value worth Tk73 crore followed by One Bank and Sonali Paper.

Eastern Insurance was the top gainer among all the listed firms followed by Asia Insurance and Bangladesh National Insurance. SS Steel, however, had the worst share followed by Meghna Condensed Milk and Aramit Cement.

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange key index CASPI also plummeted 332 points to close at 19,742 on Sunday.