Business Desk :
Stocks slumped on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak, as risk-averse investors dumped their holdings riding on the news that the securities regulator lifted the floor price of 66 companies.
The market opened on a sharp fall today, which continued until the end of the session as cautious investors booked quick profit on stocks which floor price withdrew amid ongoing lockdown.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 82.55 points or 1.54 per cent to settle at 5,254, after managing 248 points in the past three days.
Market analysts said the withdrawal of floor price restriction for 66 listed companies coupled with deepening worries over the rising coronavirus cases in the country took a heavy toll on the struggling market.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on Wednesday lifted the floor price of 66 listed companies set a year ago when the market was in a free-fall caused by the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On March 19 of 2020, the stock market regulator imposed the floor price on all stocks by calculating their average prices from the preceding five days to stop the index from falling amid the pandemic.
Of the 110 companies that remained stuck in the floor prices, 66 have been withdrawn. The floor prices slapped on other companies might also be lifted in phases, BSEC officials said.
The investors’ sentiment remained weak amid ongoing lockdown and rising coronavirus cases while the lifting of floor price restriction for 66 companies triggered the selling spree, said a top broker.
Two other DSE indices also ended lower with the DSE30 Index, comprising blue chips, eroded 20.79 points to finish at 1,990 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 16.50 points to close at 1,197.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also fell to Tk 4.75 billion, which was 18 per cent lower than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 5.82 billion.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 346 issues traded, 264 declined, 47 advanced, and 35 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco – the flagship company of Beximco Group- was the most- traded stock with shares worth about Tk 385 million changing hands, followed by Robi, Asia Pacific Insurance, Provati Insurance and Purabi General Insurance.
The general insurance companies saw the highest gain as eight out of the top 10 gainers were belonging to the insurance sector.
Provati Insurance was the day’s top gainer, posting a gain of 9.97 per cent while AFC Agro was the worst loser, losing 10 per cent.
As many as 106,575 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 140.77 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE also plunged to Tk 4,592 billion on Thursday, down from Tk 4,651 billion in the previous session.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also fell sharply with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI -losing 203 points to settle at 15,231 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shedding 121 points to close at 9,190.
Of the issues traded, 156 declined, 41 advanced and 20 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 6.89 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 246 million.
