DSEX dips below 7,000 points

Bangladesh's capital market has extended its losses for the second day, erasing a single-day gain on Oct 21, in nervous trading which analysts described as a correction.

The DSEX, the main index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, shed 66 points in the first 30 minutes of trading on Monday. After the first hour, the index reached 6,927 points, which is 77.99 points fewer than the previous day, with a turnover of Tk 3.38 billion.
Of the 367 stocks and mutual fund units on the Dhaka bourse, the prices of 77 rose and 266 declined, while 34 remained unchanged, reports bdnews24.com.

The Chattogram Stock Exchange was also going through a bearish spell. Its main index, the CASPI, lost 224.6 points in the first hour of trading.

Shares worth Tk 111.9 were traded on the CSE during that time. Of the 158 company shares and mutual fund units trading on the bourse, the prices of 26 rose, 121 declined and 11 remained unchanged.

Riyad Matin, secretary general of the Bangladesh Merchant Bankers' Association (BMBA), said on Sunday that investors were "somewhat panicked" by the losses in the capital market, which in turn dragged down the price of most shares.

Dhaka stocks traded in the red for seven straight days from Oct 10 to Oct 20. During that time, the main index dropped 347 points to 6,020.61 points.

After a brief respite on Thursday, when the index rose by 55 points, the market fell back into a downward trajectory on Sunday, with the DSEX losing 362 points or 4.92 percent over eight days.

TF