Stocks drop for three straight days

The stock market continued to plunge for a third consecutive day yesterday as risk-averse investors sold shares apprehending that the economy would turn for the worse in the coming days.

The DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down 1 percent, or 58 points, from that on the day before to settle at 5,527.

Over the past three days the benchmark index has gone down by around 3 percent. Due to a huge sell-off by foreign investors, the stock market index is falling, according to a number of market intermediaries.

British American Tobacco Bangladesh caused the DSE's major index to drop by the biggest margin of 6 points while Square Pharmaceuticals reduced it further by 5 points.

Meanwhile, the blue-chip DS30 index fell by more than 14 points, or 0.70 percent, to 1,978.

The DSES, an index which represents Shariah-based companies, lost 12 points, or 1 percent, to 1,213.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of trading activity in the market on a given business day, dropped 21 percent to Tk 526 crore at the end of trading, the lowest in the last 20 days.

The majority of the stocks saw price erosion, as out of the 395 issues which were traded, 61 closed higher, 301 ended lower, and 33 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.