Investors stage street protest as Dhaka stocks' downslide goes on

Share prices went into a tailspin at DSE Monday in the absence of policy direction from the newly elected government, leading unnerved retail investors to take to the street in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

The benchmark index DSE General Index (DGEN) shed 80 points, the single-day biggest drop since June 10 last, to close at 2596.31, the lowest since December 22 last.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will sit today (Tuesday) with the merchant bankers to find out the cause of continuous downslide of the market.

A group of investors gathered outside the prime bourse at around 11 am, chanted slogans and demanded of the government steps to halt the persistent slide of the market as the benchmark index fell for the fourth straight day, the worst losing streak in one month.

The market lost about 250 points in the last 15 days.

"I have lost all my savings in the last 15 days and no one from the government or regulator came to our rescue,'' said Aminur Rahman, 40, a protester. "I lost about Tk 0.5 million," said aggrieved Amin.

The government did not utter any single word to boost the investors' confidence since it was formed on January 6 last, he said.

Police took control of the situation without any untoward incident happening and surrounded the exchange for a while.

Most of the share prices went down on the day. Out of 246 issues traded, only 33 gained, 210 declined and three remained unchanged.

Two other market barometers--All Shares Price Index (DSI) and DSE 20 comprising blue chips-- also lost 62.99 points and 46.70 points to finish at 2147.04 and 2118.00 respectively.

The total turnover came down to Tk 3.22 billion against the previous day's Tk 3.39 billion while the market capitalisation fell below Tk 1.0 trillion-mark to stand at Tk 998.13 billion against previous day's Tk 1.03 trillion.

"The market saw high volume in daily transaction but no fresh fund has been injected as around Tk 3.50 billion was stuck in the private placement of GrameenPhone (GP)," said Yawer Sayeed, a capital market expert.

To add to the woes, a substantial amount of money has also been locked due to extension of application submission period for Puraba Chal project by Rajuk.

He said, some policy direction statement from the newly formed government may restore some confidence of the investors.

DSE acting chief executive officer AFM Shariful Islam said, said, "Institutional investors, the major market players, are reluctant to take part in trading and probably adopted wait and see policy."

Managing director of Prime Finance and Investment Limited Akter H Sannamat said institutional investors took to the sideline in the downslide market as they failed to understand the trend of the market.

Shinepukur Ceramics Limited was the top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 358.26 million traded while Beximco Limited was the second turnover leader with shares worth Tk 313.65 million traded.

Other next turnover leaders were Summit Power, Titas Gas, BSRM Steel Mills Limited, Grameen Scheme Two Mutual Fund and Uttara Bank.

The day's top gainers were Fine Foods, Meghna Pet, Dulamia Cotton, Modern Dyeing and Savar Refractories.

Padma Oil, Janata Insurance, Dandy Dyeing, Paper Processing, BEMCO and Al-Haj Textile were the top losers on the day.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the Dhaka Stock Exchange will meet the Finance Minister AMA Muhith tomorrow (Wednesday) to discuss the latest market situation.

"We are scheduled to meet the Finance Minister tomorrow to talk about the stock market," said AFM Shariful Islam, DSE acting chief executive officer.

The move came at a time when the market lost around 250 points in the last 15 days.

Some policy statement direction from the newly elected democratic government will help restore some confidence in the market, according to the market observers.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi has already met the finance minister recently.

"I met the finance minister recently. During our conversation about various topics, it seemed to me that he has positive attitude towards the stock market," the SEC chairman told the FE.

About the current downslide of the market, he said, "We will hold a meeting with the merchant bankers today (Tuesday) to know the reasons behind the fall of the market."

On Monday, share prices of the DSE, prime bourse, saw a freefall.

The benchmark index DSE General Index (DGEN) tumbled shedding 80 points, a single-day biggest decline in almost six months, or 3.02 per cent to close at 2596.31, its lowest since December 22 last.