Stocks fall for third consecutive session

Dhaka stocks extended its downward trend for the third consecutive session on Sunday amid fears of an economic crisis.

Dhaka stocks rose 42 points for three consecutive days on December 11, 12, and 13 as the political tension subsided after the BNP's sectional rally in Dhaka on December 10. However, on December 14, 15, and 18, the index fell by 25 points in three days.

Although the index did not fall as much as it had risen, Tk 600 crores of transactions returned to the Tk 300 crore mark after 20 working days.

DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka bourse slid down by 11.2 points and settled at 6,246 points as against 6,257 points in the previous trading session.

The prolonged bearish sentiment in the market has kept investors engaged in continuous sell-offs in absence of any major trigger for the market to bounce back, said EBL securities in a note.

Moreover, prevailing adversities on the macroeconomic front, dismal performance forecasts of the listed companies and squeezed liquidity in the market have also weakened investors’ confidence to remain active on the trading floor, it said.

Meanwhile, the Dhaka bourse observed a significant decrease in participation while the total turnover declined by 19.9 per cent and stood at Tk 340 crore as against Tk 425 crore in the previous session.

On the sectoral front, pharma and chemicals (15.3 per cent) issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by engineering (14.6 per cent) and fuel and power (11.1 per cent).

Most of the sectors displayed dismal returns, out of which Jute (-2.6 per cent), IT (-2.0 per cent) and Ceramic (-0.9 per cent) exerted the most corrections, while Tannery (1.3 per cent), Travel (0.7 per cent) and Paper (0.4 per cent) exhibited some positive returns.

Out of the 391 issues traded, 30 advanced, 55 declined, and 306 remained unchanged.

The port city bourse, CSE, also settled on red terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) edged down by 0.6 and 1.2 points respectively.