Photo : Collected
After lifting the floor price, there is a fear of forced sale in brokerage houses and merchant banks along with rumours of conflict between the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), following which the stock market has seen a sharp fall in the last week.
The key index of the DSE, the country's main capital market, fell below 6,000 points in the week-long price decline, which is the lowest position in last 3 years. DSE’s investors' capital or market capitalisation fell by Tk 49,000 crore as the index sharply fell.
According to DSE data, a total of five business days were traded during the week. In 5 days, DSE's benchmark index DSEX fell by 144 points to 5,968 points. Among the other two indices, DS-30 index fell by 42 points to 2,051 points and Shariah index DSES fell by 36 points to 1299 points.
Out of 411 companies traded last week, 69 rose in price. On the contrary, 301 institutions decreased and 31 were remained unchanged. The market capitalisation fell by Tk 49,192 crore as the share prices of most companies dropped. The situation is similar in the country’s other capital market Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also.
Market participants said that, it is not clear where this trend of decline will stop. Because, 6,000 points was a psychological limit. Due to its collapse, there is currently panic in the stock market.
Economists said that the capital market has been in a crisis of confidence for a long time. When asked what initiatives should be taken to solve this crisis, the former caretaker government's finance advisor AB Mirza Azizul Islam said, “I have been saying for a long time that there is a crisis of confidence of investors in this market. Initiatives should be taken to overcome this crisis. There are two things to do in this regard – good governance and increasing the supply of shares in good companies.”
He also said, by establishing good governance, the punishment of manipulation should be ensured. Investors should be assured that if someone steals their money through manipulation, they will be prosecuted. Otherwise, no one will come to invest with risk. However, BSEC said that the market will turn around soon.
According to DSE data, shares, bonds and mutual funds worth Tk 2,793 crore were traded on DSE last week, which is TK 1,259 crore or 31 percent less than the previous week.
Meanwhile, the index fell to 5,968 points on Thursday, the last day of the trading week, which is lowest in last 3 years. Earlier, on May 5, 2021, the index fell to 5,884 points. Investors' market capitalisation fell by Tk 49,192 crore from the previous week to TK 6,99,635 crore.
Another capital market, CSE, traded Tk 74 crore last week. In the contrast of increasing the share price of 63 companies, 244 companies decreased. As a result, investors' capital of CSE decreased by TK 17,090 crore to TK 7,25,750 crore.
In this regard, BSEC Executive Director and Spokesperson Mohammad Rezaul Karim said 6,000 DSEX point was a psychological limit for the market. “We expected the index not to fall below this. But on Wednesday, it went below that limit. Due to this, there is some fear among the investors.”
Messenger/Disha
