Written by The Banking Post
Stocks at the Dhaka bourse tumbled on Sunday as rising political uncertainty shook investor confidence, sparking broad-based sell-offs across the market.
The DSEX dropped 49 points to close at 4,978, losing its recent recovery momentum. Blue-chip stocks also came under pressure, pulling the DS30 down 17 points to 1,917.
Heavy Selling Despite Higher Turnover
Turnover rose 12% to Tk492 crore, reflecting active trading. But the mood remained sharply bearish: 306 issues declined, while only 57 gained. The sharp sell-off erased nearly Tk7,000 crore from market capitalisation.
A brokerage review described the session as “dismal,” noting that investors mostly stayed on the sidelines while waiting for clearer political signals. Indices had shown mild strength until mid-session, but selling surged in the afternoon, dragging most stocks deep into the red.
Sectoral Performance Weak Across the Board
Engineering and textile stocks each accounted for 12.6% of turnover, followed by fuel and power at 12%.
However, most sectors closed negative. NBFIs and mutual funds fell 2.4%, and IT stocks dropped 2%.
Only jute and paper managed gains of 3.6% and 1.3%.
Speculative Stocks Lead the Gainers’ List
In a sign of market instability, several loss-making and speculative companies dominated the top gainers.
- Zeal Bangla Sugar jumped 9.95%
- Khulna Printing rose 9.75%
- BD Thai Food gained 9.43%
Other notable advancers included Regent Textile and Global Heavy Chemical.
Major Decliners
On the losing side:
- Lub-rref Bangladesh plunged 18.89%
- Premier Leasing, Fareast Finance, Peoples Leasing fell 10% each
- Simtex Industries dropped 9.97%
Chattogram Bourse Follows Suit
The downturn extended to the port city bourse as well.
- CSE’s CSCX index lost 32.7 points
- CASPI shed 60.9 points
The market closed the week’s first session deep in negative territory, with political uncertainty continuing to cloud investor sentiment.
