Stock market continues to plunge

Staff Correspondent

The country’s stock market witnessed another major decline on Tuesday (October 7), the third working day of the week. Share prices of most companies in both the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) fell, with the indices falling. However, the volume of transactions in Dhaka increased slightly.

The day started on a positive note. In the first hour, the DSE’s main index, DSEX, rose by about 20 points. But after some time, the market trend reversed; one company after another started to decline in price. In the last hour, selling pressure increased in almost all sectors, resulting in an overall downward trend in the market.

At the end of trading, it was seen that the share and unit prices of 85 companies on the DSE increased, while the prices of 282 decreased and the prices of 34 remained unchanged. The impact of the decline was also clear among companies that pay good dividends – 67 increased in price, while 138 decreased. Among medium-quality companies, only 8 increased in price, while 71 decreased.

Of the companies in the ‘Z’ group (non-dividend) 10 increased in price, 73 decreased and 13 remained unchanged. Of the 36 mutual funds listed, 5 increased in price, 19 decreased and 12 remained unchanged.

At the end of the day, the DSE’s main index, DSEX, fell 46 points to 5,377 points. The DSE-30 index fell 23 points to 2,064 points, and the Shariah index fell 10 points to 1,171 points.

Although the indices fell, the trading volume increased slightly. The total trading volume on the DSE today was Tk 787.48 crore, which is about Tk 500 crore more than the previous working day.

CVO Petrochemical topped the list with a turnover of Tk 271.8 crore. It was followed by Sonali Paper (Tk 252.9 crore) and Rupali Life Insurance (Tk 251.3 crore). The top 10 also included Pragati Insurance, Khan Brothers PP Oven Bags, Pragati Life Insurance, Orion Infusion, Summit Alliance Port, Apex Footwear and Lavello Ice Cream.

On the other hand, the market was also down at the Chittagong Stock Exchange. The overall index CASPI there fell by 107 points. Out of 217 companies in the market, 63 increased in price, 136 decreased and 18 remained unchanged. The total transaction volume on the CSE was Tk 122.2 crore, which is slightly less than the previous working day.

Above all, this series of continuous price declines has created new concerns among investors. Experts believe that a crisis of confidence in the market and a reluctance to invest in fundamental stocks are among the reasons for this decline.