Stocks back to red; DSEX sheds 50 points 

Investors saw shades of red as the benchmark DSEX index settled with deep cuts and failed to hold on to the previous session's gains.

In tandem with Monday’s steepest rise spurred by doubling credit facilities, the market opened in green in the morning but the cheerful mood petered out as days passed.

Sharp reaction to the market’s recent volatility, the war in Ukraine and soaring inflation were behind the plunge, according to dealers.

After volatility throughout the day, the DSEX declined 50 points or 0.79 per cent to finish at 6,211.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bears. About 376 stocks advanced, 276 declined, 57 remained unchanged and 43 remained unchanged.

Credit facilities raised by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission largely helped the benchmark index get back on its feet in the previous session but investors remained unconvinced about the market’s sustainability due to macrocosmic association, said the dealers.

Risk-averse investors sold their holdings to stay safe in the volatile market, they added. 

“Stocks on the Dhaka bourse plunged after a single-day break as the confidence of investors is yet to recover as uncertainties persist due to the un-abating Russia-Ukraine war and volatile commodity prices globally,” said the EBL Securities in
a note.

The market opened higher and the key index added 44 points within the first hour of trading, however, the rest of the session declined steadily due to prevalent sell pressure, it said.

The turnover advanced by 3.4 per cent to stand at Tk 660 crore as against Tk 659 crore in the previous session.

On the sectoral front, pharmaceuticals (15 per cent) issues exerted the highest turnover followed by miscellaneous (12.3 per cent) and bank (11.1 per cent) stocks.

Most of the sectors turned red led by ceramic (-3.3 per cent), travel (-2.6per cent) and IT (-2.3 per cent).

The port city bourse, CSE, also settled in red terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) have declined by 71.0 points and 117.4 points respectively.