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Massive selling pressure was witnessed at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Thursday, turning the price board all across in the red fewer than 40 minutes after the start of trading.
The benchmark DSEX index witnessed its biggest single-day fall in 10 months tracking a fall in its global peers which declined after Russia launched military operations in eastern Ukraine.
The DSEX tanked 109 points or 1.57 per cent to end at 6,839. It was its biggest single-day fall since April 4, 2021, when it plunged 181 points.
The investors lost over Tk 7,448 crore in the sell-off as the market capitalisation of the DSE stood at Tk 5.5 lakh crore on the day, 1.34 per cent down over the previous trading session.
The carnage at the DSE was particularly in line with the meltdown in global markets where equities saw heavy bleeding on Russia’s invasion on Ukraine, analysts say.
The index’s steepest fall was exacerbated by heavyweight Grameenphone that dented the index most. The country’s largest mobile phone operators chipped away almost 30 points from the index as it resumed trade after the record date for the dividend entitlement, they said.
“The war between Russia and Ukraine unnerves investors, dragging the index down,” said capital market analyst Abu Ahmed.
“Any war is not good news for any economy in the world as it slows down trade and commerce worldwide,” he said.
However, he said the current economic situation in Bangladesh is good enough. “So, whatever the reason for such a big fall is temporary.”
Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to consequences they have never seen, according to global media.
As Putin spoke, big explosions were heard in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other areas of Ukraine and air sirens went off in Kyiv, indicating that the capital city is under attack.
Heavy selling pressure was observed in insurers, telecommunication, NBFI, banks, and pharmaceutical sectors.
Individually, stocks that contributed negatively were Grameenphone (-28.87 points), BATBC (-5.82 points), Square Pharmaceuticals (-4.35 points), Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh ( 3.86 points) and Robi ( 2.49 points).
“Stocks plummeted as investors are rattled on the bourse due to tension over Russia-Ukraine crisis, which pushed the market down driven by massive selloffs while the major index settled below the ‘psychological’ level of 6,900 points,” said the EBL Securities in a note.
The unrest in the geopolitical situation took a heavy toll on the market as investors assumed that the surging oil price may escalate further, causing inflation to increase further in the country, it said.
