DSE turnover hits 4-month low

Except for some isolated incidents, Dhaka stocks continue to suffer in the current month as severe macroeconomic strains as well as dismal earnings disclosures by the listed companies have been rattling the investors’ confidence for many days.

The turnover of the country’s premier bourse – Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) – plunged to a four-month low yesterday.

The DSE turnover stood at Tk 323 crore Thursday which was 40.1 per cent down from the tally of Tk 540 crore in the previous session.

Earlier last Monday, the DSE’s core index fell below the 6,200 mark after three months.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the DSE, slightly gained 7.39 points or 0.11 per cent to settle at 6,215 yesterday.

Among other indices, the DS30, the blue-chip index, edged up 6.47 points or 0.29 per cent to close at 2,189, and the DSES, the Shariah-based index, gained 4.54 points or 0.33 per cent to finish at 1,354.

The Dhaka bourse witnessed a substantial decrease in participation as the gloomy macroeconomic forecasts and dismal financial progress of the listed companies weakened investors’ confidence on the trading floor, leading the turnover to register to a nearly four-month low, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.

The pharmaceutical sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 24.87 per cent to the total DSE turnover on Thursday, according to the UCB Stock Brokerage.

On the sectoral fronts, the life insurance sector, services, real estate, and IT sectors closed positively, while the jute, travel & leisure, and ceramics sectors faced corrections, it stated.

Equity indices of the Dhaka Stock Exchange managed to stay afloat in the latest trading session riding on the last-hour buying spree on selective stocks which were being traded at a lucrative price level, creating some investment opportunities for bargain hunters following the recent bearish trend in the market, EBL Securities noted.

Following the constant market fall, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission previously ordered the removal of the five-minute pre-opening session which went into effect on Thursday to shun any negative impression on investors, created by daunting selling pressure during that time.

The pre-opening session was introduced in November 2020 aiming to give investors a window to decide their moves for the day, aligned with global practices.

The stock market regulator observed that the session had also been playing a role to discourage investors to buy stocks.

As per the revised schedule, the trading time has been fixed from 10:00am to 2:20pm. The post-closing session would stay unchanged from 2:20pm to 2:30pm.

The pre-and post-opening sessions were put in place to help determine the justified opening and closing prices of the listed securities.

The pre-opening session was withdrawn for the second time on regulatory instructions, a DSE official told The Business Post.

Out of the 390 issues traded, 47 stocks advanced, 28 issues declined, and 315 scrips did not see any price movement on the DSE trading floor.

Meanwhile, most of the local publicly traded companies reported negative earnings growth in July-September, following a sharp increase in their production costs and other expenses caused by the soaring raw material prices in the global market and the mighty dollar value against the taka, eventually burning through their cashbooks.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange, on the other hand, closed lower yesterday with its two major indices – the selected indices (CSCX), and the all-share price index (CASPI) – inching down by 0.9 points and 0.93 points respectively.