DHAKA: Bangladesh stocks continue sliding for the fifth day. Indices at the twin bourses — Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) have sharply dropped, so has the volume. But the experts say the volatile market situation is a “normal and temporary” phenomenon.
On Tuesday, the third trading day of the week, the main DSE index dropped 10 points to close at 4610. Shares worth Tk 4.46 billion changed hands on the day, marking a fall of 13.51 percent.
On the other hand, the composite stock price index (CSPI) at the CSE dropped 38 points to close at 14,189. Shares worth Tk 292 million were traded on the day which was 16.40 percent less than the previous day’s trading.
The Dhaka University Finance Department’s Prof Dr Sadiqul Islam told bdnews24.com trading in Bangladesh’s capital market usually slows down in December-January and picks up in March-June period. In the last five working days, DSE index shed around 88 points. Turnover dropped to Tk 4.5 billion, down by Tk 2.5 billion.
Former chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission Faruq Ahmed Siddiqui says the market is behaving normally. “There is no abnormality in the capital market. We can’t term it good or bad,” he told bdnews24.com.
But some observers are of the opinion that the fall is due to selling of shares by institutional investors to mobilise money for taking part in the auction of shares of pharmaceutical company, ACME Laboratories. Managing Director of Investment Promotion Services Mostak Ahmed Sadek told bdnews24.com brokerage houses required money to take part in the auction of ACME Laboratories’ shares.
“Most of the brokerage houses have already taken loan from the banks. Now to raise money to take part in the auction they are selling shares in their portfolios,” he explained. Of the 323 issues traded on Tuesday at the DSE, prices of 117 increased, 162 dropped, and 44 remained unchanged. At the CSE, prices of 83 increased, 147 went down and 28 remained unchanged.
