FE Report

Dhaka stocks Monday further dipped posting a negative value both in the benchmark general index and the turnover value in absence of any positive discussion regarding the restoration of the flagging market, stakeholders said.

They said this while talking about the continuous trend of the country's stock markets.

The stakeholders said presently there are a number of reasons that weakened the confidence of the investors.

According to them, the reasons, which compelled the markets to experience frustrating turnovers, include the statements of the government's high-ups, pending IPOs (initial public offerings), less involvement of big investors, the scarcity of adequate funds and the stagnancy of many margin accounts.

"Presently, there is no positive discussion anywhere about the market's restoration," a top broker told the FE.

At the end of the day's trading session, the DSE general index (DGEN) shed 36.81 points or 0.88 per cent to close at 4,126 points, whereas both the DSI and DSE-20 have also went down by 0.77 per cent and 0.58 per cent respectively.

Among the sectors, the power shed 1.62 per cent, the banks 1.03 per cent and the NBFIs 0.96 per cent.

The sole Telecommunications Company--Grameenphone--has also lost 0.52 per cent, while the Pharmaceuticals has went down by 0.05 per cent.

Among 261 traded issues, 42 advanced, 190 declined and the remaining 29 remained unchanged.

At the end of the session, the turnover value stood at 1.21 billion, 16.4 per cent lower than the value of previous session.

On the other hand, the all share price index shed 91.51 points to close at 12642 points on the port city bourse-Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). On the bourse, among 170 traded issues, 17 advanced, 140 declined and 13 remained unchanged.

While talking to the FE, some directors of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Monday expressed their anger regarding the statement of the Finance Minister AMA Muhith who Sunday said that the "speculators in the share market are creating chaos".

"The government should clear the definition of speculator or fatakbaj for the sake of the market," a DSE director said. The executives of different brokerage firms said there are at least 50 IPO proposals, submitted to the securities regulator to offload shares.

"Many investors are thinking to apply for primary shares amid the continuous flagging trend of the market. They know that the minimum returns are possible through IPO shares than the investment in the continuous flagging trend of the secondary market," another top broker said.

He said the inactiveness of big investors is another major reason behind the insignificant turnover.