Coronavirus fear grips market
Trading at the bourses remained sluggish as panic-driven investors continued their sell-offs on stocks of major sectors
Stocks dropped sharply again today for the seventh consecutive session as coronavirus fears clobbered the market, adding to the already dwelling sector-specific woes.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, dropped 70 points or 1.6 percent to close the day at 4,410.
The Shariah-based DSES index also gave up 16 points or 1.5 percent to settle at 1,029, while the blue-chip index DS30 lost 18 points or 1.2 percent to stand at 1,475.
At the Chattogram Stock Exchange, the benchmark index Caspi plunged 224 points or 1.6 percent to close at 13,519.
The market started the trading session with a sharp fall but slightly picked up growth during the first hour of trade. However, it gradually lost points until the mid-session and again gained momentum.
The market finally stayed afloat until the end of the session, displaying volatility in the indices' intraday performance graphs.
Trading at the bourses remained sluggish as panic-driven investors continued their sell-offs on stocks of major sectors, anticipating further price decay, according to the Daily Market Review of EBL Securities Ltd.
According to the review, Bangladesh's international trade may suffer for months to come from the economic impact of the global coronavirus epidemic.
The pandemic skidded the world's capital markets into record low since the 2008 financial crisis and the world's leading indices are losing points, the review further added.
Investors were already doubtful about the market recovery due to the falling prices of banking and telecom stocks, thanks to the recent declarations of capping the lending rate in the banking sector and the never-ending scuffle between Grameenphone and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in the telecom sector.
Now, the coronavirus epidemic has worsened the situation as macroeconomic factors are likely to be affected, which in turn will affect the economy as a whole.
All the sectors witnessed price correction today, except jute exhibiting a price appreciation of 1.8 percent, and life insurance and travel remaining unchanged in the sector return board.
The services sector faced the highest price adjustment of 5.3 percent.
Among the other large-cap sectors, financial institutions witnessed a price slide of 1.7 percent, telecom slid one percent, banks lost 0.9 percent and pharmaceuticals inched down 0.8 percent.
Turnover at the DSE decreased by 19 percent to Tk456.2 crore today, from Tk561.4 crore in the previous session.
On the other hand, turnover at the port city bourse decreased 19 percent from Tk19.4 crore to Tk15.7 crore today.
The pharmaceuticals sector contributed the highest, 19.8 percent, to the total turnover value, followed by textile stocks adding 15.8 percent and engineering sector adding 14.4 percent.
VFS Thread Dyeing Ltd dominated the turnover chart with a turnover value of Tk13.8 crore, closing the day at Tk30.6 per share. The stock was followed by Far Chemical Industries Ltd with a turnover value of Tk11.1 crore, closing at Tk11.4 per share.
Khulna Printing and Packaging Ltd topped the gainers' table after advancing 7.9 percent and closing at Tk17.6 per share, said the DSE website.
Tung Hai Knitting and Dyeing Ltd was the day's worst loser after shedding 9.1 percent and closing at Tk2 per share today.
Losers sharply outnumbered the gainers as out of the 355 issues traded, only 46 advanced, 289 declined, and 20 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.