Staff Reporter :
Dhaka stocks continue to post broad-based losses during the last 16 days trading sessions reacting sharply by the ongoing political unrest, analysts said on Monday.
The political turmoil that has spread across the country also cast a shadow over the economy.
The available data shows that the broad price index (DSEX) of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) last week lost 158.14 points or 3.19 percent to 4797.96 from 4956.09 of the closing day of previous week.
The DSE 30 index also suffered the similar slide shedding 60.59 points or 3.29 percent to 1778.80 from 1839.40 of the previous week.
Out of the 316 traded issues, only 32 advanced, 124 suffered loss and 12 remained unchanged.
The daily average turnover during the week was recorded at Tk 257 crore in the week which was Tk 370 crore in the previous week.
“Political turmoil is heavily weighing on investors’ morale pushing the market in the red zone. Panicked by the political violence, the investors are not taking part in trading leading to low turnover, fall in indices and prices,” Prof Abu Ahmed, a stock market analyst told The New Nation on Monday.
He said: We will see major crash in the market if the crisis prolongs.
“The stock continued to suffer straight fall amidst decreased participation from the investors,” said Shakil Rizvi, former president of DSE.
He also said that the market is responding negatively with downward indices and falling prices of shares as the political crisis deepens.
However, Dhaka stocks ended lower on Monday as panic-driven investors rushed to book profit fearing further fall.
Trading started as usual at 10.30am, but presence of investors at the brokerage houses was thin.
At the end of the session, DSEX index of the DSE went down by 8.42 points or 0.30 percent to close at 4,707.33.
The DS30 index, comprising blue chips also lost 9.44 points or 0.54 percent to close at 1,736.36 points.
Turnover came down to Tk 2.04 crore over the previous session’s value of Tk 2.33 crore.
On Sunday, the market also suffered loss, with its major index hitting four-month low.
The DSE broad price index, DSEX, plunged to 4716.76, losing 81.19 points or 1.69 percent to hit over four-month low after September 15, 2014 when the index came down to 4709.91 on lackluster trading.
The blue-chip DS30 also suffered the similar slide to finish the day much lower than their previous day’s closing. The DS30 lost 32.99 points or 1.85 percent to close at 1745.80.
The daily transaction on the day stood at Tk 223 crore.
