Home ›› 03 Mar 2022 ›› Stock
Dhaka stocks endured a dull session on Wednesday with the benchmark DSEX index slipping below 6,700-mark, as the Russia-Ukraine crisis continued to weigh on investors.
The market opened on a weak note, but the momentum continued until the close of the trade as the sentiment remained choppy. Massive selling in recent days pushed investors to the sidelines taking a cue from escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine, dealers say.
At close, the DSEX recorded a decrease of 54 points or 0.79 per cent to settle at 6,699—the level not seen before December 23, 2021, when it was 6,702.
Its two junior indices--the Shariah-based DSES index lost 10 points or 0.7 per cent to 1,443 and the blue-chip comprising DS30 index fell 19 points or 0.70 per cent to 2,470.
The market opened on a dreary note and continued to witness extremely low activity during the day that led to the DSE to its lowest turnover in two months, according to the dealers.
The turnover stood at Tk 6,58 crore—its lowest since December 13, 2021, when it was Tk 696 crore and 18 per cent down from the previous session.
“Equity indices of the bourse failed to withhold the positive momentum as investors are yet to regain confidence in the bourse as they feared for a longer Ukraine-Russian conflict emergence,” said the EBL Securities in a note.
Trading activities were sluggish as most investors are on the sidelines amidst the ongoing bearish vibe to avoid any potential correction, it said.
Amidst the bearish situation, insurance stocks were the few winners with eight of the top 10 gainers belonging to this sector.
On the sectoral front, miscellaneous (21.4 per cent) issues exerted the highest turnover followed by textile (12.3 per cent ) and pharma (10.9 per cent ) stocks.
The majority of the sectors displayed dismal performance, out of which ceramic (-1.9 per cent), financial institution (-1.4 per cent), and paper (-1.4 per cent) observed the most corrections while only life insurance (0.1 per cent) have exerted positive returns on the bourse today.
Out of the 384 issues traded, 58 advanced, 288 declined, and 38 remained unchanged.
