Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Small investors’ of the country’s prime bourse –Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) – took to the streets once again on Monday in protest against the continuous fall of stock prices that halted traffic at Motijheel area in the capital for around three hours.
The benchmark General Index of the DSE plunged 97.11 points or 1.61 per cent to close at 5,920.84 and the DGEN come down below 6,000 points mark since June 28. With Monday’s sink, the DSE fell for the third straight sessions.
The agitating investors came out of different brokerage houses and gathered in front of the DSE main building at about 12:30pm (local time), as the general index of the DSE plunged 97 points.
They also blocked the road, disrupting traffic on the otherwise busy street from Shapla Chattar to Ittefaq intersection.
The agitation continued till 4pm and the angry investors chanted slogans against Finance Minister AMA Muhith and demanded his resignation. The vehicular movement returned to normalcy after 4:00 pm.
The retail investors also threatened to boycott the market if there is no change in the current market trend.
They also sought immediate intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to restore normalcy in the market.
Additional members of law-enforcing agencies rushed to spot and brought the situation under control without any untoward incidents.
The investors were in panic and liquidity pressures on the market that pulled down the index sharply, market operators said.
Out of 256 issues traded on the day, only 34 advanced, 214 declined and eight remained unchanged.
Most share prices of all the major sectors, including banks, insurance, financial institutions and fuel and power suffered losses.
Banking sector lost 1.60 per cent, whereas non-banking financial institutions, insurance and fuel and power sectors declined by 1.90 percent, 2.0 per cent and 0.90 percent respectively. Other prominent sectors like pharma and textiles lost 1.40 percent and 2.50 percent respectively.
Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also witnessed the declining trend on Monday, as the CSE Selective Categories Index (CSCX) shed 193.129points or 1.7695 percent to close at 10721.3801.
Of the 183 issues traded at the CSE, only six advanced, 170 declined and seven remained unchanged.
BBN/SSR/AD-12Sept11-9:20 pm (BST)
