Dhaka stocks recorded the lowest turnover in one-and-a-half month on Sunday amid cautious trading by the general investors and inactivity of the institutional ones as panic sell-offs continued to haunt the market, a trend that swept through the last two weeks.
The DGEN, or the benchmark general index of Dhaka Stocks Exchange, lost 0.65 per cent, or 40.56 points, to close the day at 6,172.29 points.
Turnover on Sunday dropped a new low in one-and-a-half month to Tk 439.89 crore which is Tk 96 crore less than the figures of the previous day.
Market operators said that retail investors were still nervous following the rumoured disinvestment by the big fishes who were expected to be brought to book by the market regulators.
They also said that institutional investors, who continued to remain in the sideline, became inactive since the end of July when the index and turnover gained substantially.
'Institutional investors and big market players who bought shares in early July started to sell form middle of the month and left the market for the time being,' said a stockbroker.
'If we see the trend of rise and drop of turnover during July and the sharp fall from August, the equation becomes clear,' he said.
On July 24 the DSE recorded the highest turnover in the year at Tk 1,957.92 crore.
On Sunday, trading at the DSE floor started with a positive note with the DGEN gaining 44 points in five minutes. But the momentum faded fast as the investors started to push their sell buttons, which forced the index to end in a negative territory.
All the major sectors including banks, fuel and power, telecommunication and non-bank financial institutions saw a downtrend on Sunday.
Investors over the last two weeks kept on their edge following the news that the Securities and Exchange Commission is all set to take legal action against some market manipulators for their involvement in the stock market crash in January.
The news also triggered a rumour of large-scale disinvestment of some big investors which prompted the retail investors to go for panic sales.
The Anti-Corruption Commission last week announced that it would file cases against five individuals, including one executive director of the SEC for market manipulation.
Of the 258 issues traded on Sunday, 60 advanced, 184 declined and seven remained unchanged.
Square Pharma topped the turnover leaders of the day with shares worth Tk 24.99 crore. The rest of the leaders were United Airways, Lafarge Surma Cement, MI Cement, Beximco, Malek Spinning Mills, Grameenphone, RN Spinning, AIMS 1st Mutual Fund and Kaya Cosmetics Ltd.
Source : New Age
