Business Desk :
Stocks extended the losing streak for the fifth straight sessions on Tuesday as the jittery investors continued to sell their holdings to avoid further erosion of their portfolios.
Following the previous day’s steep fall, the market opened on a positive for a while, then started to decline sharply and the key index lost more than 100 points at one stage. But late hour’s buying support from the institutional investors, particularly the state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh helped to recover most of the early losses, eventually ending over 27 points lower. DSEX, the key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down 27.42 points or 0.42 per cent to settle at 6,403, lowest in 10 months since July 27, 2021. DSEX shed over 294 points in five straight sessions including that of Tuesday. Two other indices also ended marginally lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 2.25 points to finish at 2,363 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 1.52 points to close at 1,408. Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also fell to Tk 7.75 billion, which was 24 per cent lower than the previous day’s tally of Tk 10.24 billion. Market operators said some factors relating to the country’s macroeconomic situation might together hurt investors’ sentiment.
The worry of economic instability and uncertainties of the coming days due to the Russia-Ukraine war generated apprehensions among stock investors, they said. Out of 379 issues traded, 245 declined, 89 advanced and 45 issues remained unchanged. Beximco was the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 468 million changing hands, followed by Shinepukur Ceramics, JMI Hospital Requisite Manufacturing, Salvo Chemicals and Fu-Wang Ceramic. The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) shedding 140 points to settle at 18,726 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) losing 84 points to close at 11,237. Of the issues traded, 197 declined, 63 advanced and 33 issues remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor. The port-city bourse traded 13.23 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 279 million.
