BBN file phot

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Bangladesh’s stocks plunged further on Monday as worried investors continued their selling binge on major sectors issues amid growing concern over the country’s overall economic situation.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, went down by 62.25 points or 1.35 per cent to close at nearly 40 months low at 4,533 since August 31, 2016.

The news of falling private sector credit growth, soaring non-performing loan, declining export earning and negative portfolio investment made investors frustrated, according to experts.

They also said that growing concern over the country’s overall economy coupled with recent market volatility and liquidity crunch in the banking sector also dented investors’ confidence.

Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 21.54 points to finish at 1,561 and the DSE Shariah Index plunged 19 points to close at 1,022.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also fell and amounted to BDT 2.75 billion, which was 21 per cent lower than the previous day’s turnover of BDT 3.49 billion.

Selling of shares of large-cap issues notably from pharma, power and food added further woes to the overall market outlook, they added.

Food & allied sector witnessed the highest loss of 2.10 per cent, followed by pharma with 1.70 per cent, engineering 1.50 per cent, financial institutions 1.30 per cent, telecom 1.10 per cent and banking 0.70 per cent.

Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 353 issues traded, 233 closed lower, 67 ended higher and 53 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

A total number of 101,917 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with trading volume of 104 million shares and mutual fund units.

The market-cap of the DSE also dropped to BDT 3,446 billion on Monday, from BDT 3,482 billion in the previous session.

Square Pharma topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 89 million changing hands, closely followed by Sinobangla Industries, Daffodil Computers, BATBC and National Tubes.

New Line Clothings was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 8.91 per cent while Daffodil Computers was the worst loser, losing 8.37 per cent.

On the other hand, the Chittagong Stock Exchange also saw sharp decline with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 151 points to close at 13,828 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX –shedding 93 points to finish at 8,391.`

The losers beat gainers, as 148 issues closed lower, 60 ended higher and 29 remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city bourse traded 5.24 million shares and mutual fund units worth BDT 147 million in turnover.

BBN/SSR/AD