A group of investors staged protests in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday as the share prices nosedived sharply. The downward trend has been continuing for more than a week, except last Thursday.
A group of investors staged protests in front of the Dhaka Stock
Exchange yesterday as the share prices nosedived sharply. The downward
trend has been continuing for more than a week, except last Thursday.
The
investors went for panic sell-offs from the opening hour of trading as
most of them lost confidence following a debate on the stock probe
report, said experts.
Speculations over the report created panic
among small investors as they complained that the government is
deliberately wasting time before making the report public, said one of
the experts.
“The institutional investors also faced a credit
crunch due to the tight money market, while some of them adopted a
wait-and-see policy fearing another crash impending,” said Akter H
Sannamat, a market analyst.
Sannamat, also the former managing
director of Prime Finance and Investment, said: “The government should
take a series of good initiatives to help the investors restore their
lost confidence.”
The aggrieved investors started coming out of the trading houses around 12:30am when the market declined by around 140 points.
They
set fire to vehicle tyres, wood blocks and paper in front of the DSE
building blocking the avenue from Shapla Chattar to Ittefaq crossing
and vandalised a motor bike.
The agitating investors also chanted
slogans against the finance minister, top bosses of the premier bourse
and demanded the resignation of the SEC chairman.
Investors
demanded that the government publish the probe report as soon as
possible and take action against those who are responsible for
January's stock debacle.
Traffic returned to normal at 1pm after law enforcers intervened.
The
benchmark general index of DSE lost 212 points, or 3.5 percent, to
close at 5,863 points. The DSE index had lost 116 points on the opening
day of the week.
The selective categories of index of Chittagong Stock Exchange slumped 404 points, or 3.64 percent, to close at 10,557 points.
Jewel
Ahmed, an agitating investor said: “Small investors will leave the
market if the government does not take any initiative to protect them.”
“The government's unclear moves made us confused.”
Lankabangla
Securities said in its daily market analysis: "Frustration, fear and
anxiety over the pending outcome of the probe report took a heavy toll
on the market. As the opening bell rang, the market witnessed the gauge
shedding blood and the situation exacerbated as the session progressed.
Nervousness gripped the investors who offloaded shares in speculation
of further index fall and prolonged bearish trend."
Some people deliberately made huge sell-offs to bring back another debacle to defame the government, said an SEC official.
The
state run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) bought shares of
Tk 28 crore to halt the slumping trend of the market, he added.
Of the total 251 issues traded on the DSE floor, 237 declined, 11 advanced and three remained unchanged.
The
low confidence also left its impact on the day's turnover, which came
down to Tk 613 crore, down by Tk 18.1 crore from that of the previous
day. The bank sector lost 3.09 percent, reaching 27.2 percent of the
total market capitalisation, while non-bank financial institutions lost
4.46 percent.
