Stocks drop amidst student movement

Stocks in Bangladesh fell for a second consecutive day yesterday as skittish investors sold off their shares in panic amidst a countrywide shutdown enforced by students demanding withdrawal of a quota system in government jobs.

As a result, the major index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the DSEX, dropped 36.64 points, or 0.67 percent, from that on the day before to close at 5,446.50.

The two other indices of the DSE also ended lower.

The DSES index, representing the Shariah-compliant companies, slipped 10.43 points to finish at 1,191.43 while the DS30 index, comprising the blue-chip firms, dipped 8.10 points to settle at 1,953.27.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw a similar trend with its all-share price index losing 50.45 points, 0.32 percent, to settle at 15,566.159.

Saiful Islam, president of the DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh, said the drop in the index was a clear impact of the shutdown.

The uncertainties centring the student movement has been prolonged unexpectedly. So, its impact was evident on the stock market, he said.

Due to the movement, people could not move from one end of the capital to the other and many of them were stuck wherever they were. So, the presence of investors was low, he said.

On the other hand, people were worried over the law and order situation of the country. As a result, the day's turnover at the stock market was low, he added.

The day's turnover, meaning the total value of shares traded at the DSE, stood at Tk 371 crore, a decrease of 34.17 percent compared to the previous day's trading session. This was the lowest turnover in the last one month.

Block trades, meaning high-volume transactions in a security that is privately negotiated and executed outside of the open market, contributed 8.6 percent to the overall market turnover.

Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa was the most traded share with a turnover of Tk 15.9 crore.

Of the issues that changed hands on the country's premier bourse, 38 closed higher, 311 ended in a decline and 46 did not witness any price swings.

Shares of BRAC Bank, Grameenphone, Midland Bank, Prime Bank, Square Pharmaceuticals, Far Chemicals Industries, Jamuna Bank, City Bank, City Insurance and Al-Arafah Islami Bank performed well.

Of them, BRAC Bank dominated the chart among the large-cap and blue-chip stocks with a rise of 9.23 percent, according to LankaBangla Fiancials.

Large-cap refers to companies with large amounts in market capitalisation, which is the total market value of a company's outstanding shares at present.

LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Robi Axiata, Best Holdings, Beacon Pharmaceuticals, Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries, Kohinoor Chemicals, MJL Bangladesh, Orion Infusion and Olympic Industries showcased a negative performance.

Of them, LafargeHolcim shed the most, losing 3.46 percent.

Overall, Techno Drugs topped the gainers' list, gaining 9.71 percent, followed by Midland Bank, Wata Chemicals, BRAC Bank, Far Chemicals Industries, and GQ Ball Pen Industries.

Libra Infusions, Hami Industries, Agni Systems, and Express Insurance were also on gainers' list.

Khulna Printing & Packaging and BD Thai Aluminium shed the most, losing 3 percent each.

Walton Hi-Tech Industries, Heidelberg Materials Bangladesh, Sonali Paper & Board Mills, Sonar Bangla Insurance and SK Trims & Industries also suffered losses.

A negative performance was staged by most of the large-cap sectors with the engineering sector experiencing the highest loss of 2.36 percent, as per the daily market update by BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage.

It was followed by non-bank financial institutions (2.05 percent), fuel & power (1.39 percent), food and allied (0.58 percent), pharmaceuticals (0.58 percent), telecommunication (0.12 percent) and banking (0.57 percent).