DSE sinks to 4-month low as floor price rumours strike again

Rumour of floor price withdrawal has once again stuck an already beleaguered stock market, dragging down all indicators and turnover.

On Monday, the turnover in the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell to Tk 351.90 crore, which is Tk 71 crore less than the previous working day and the lowest in four months or 84 sessions.

Earlier, on July 19, the turnover on the DSE was Tk 319.35 crore.

Such a decline has once again given rise to rumours of lifting the floor price. Throughout the day, there were talks among investors that the floor price system had been lifted. The hearsay started on social media and quickly spread to brokerage houses.

Rumours swirled in the stock market at the start of trading on Monday that a 2 percent circuit breaker had been imposed by lifting the floor price.

General investors panicked and started selling shares. The index began to fall, which continued till the end of the session.

The uncertainty over the floor price created strong selling pressure. In such a situation, out of 304 companies, 162 companies had no buyers for their shares.

In this regard, Professor Dr Sheikh Samsuddin Ahmed, commissioner of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) said, the matter is baseless.

“Rumours were spreading in the market from social media that the commission will decide on the floor price on Monday. But our commission did not know about this,” he added.

He also said that those who are spreading these rumours will be brought under the law. He urged everyone to behave responsibly so that investors fall for any kind of hearsay.

At the end of the day, DSE’s key index DSEX decreased by 24 points or 0.39 percent to settle the day at 6,190 points, which is the lowest in 68 working days. Earlier, on August 23, the DSEX was lower than this, at 6,175.

Among other indices, the shariah-based DSES fell by 6 points or 0.43 percent and the blue-chip DS-30 was down by 3 points or 0.13 percent.

Shares of the 304 companies traded on the day, of which only 13 firms gained, 72 issues lost and 219 companies remained unchanged.

The IT sector rose to the top position in terms of transactions. The total turnover in this sector was Tk 79.9 crore, which is 23.83 percent of the total turnover.

The pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector was at the second position with Tk 63.71 crore turnover, followed by life insurance sector at Tk 35.73 crore.

Shares of Genex Infosys were the most-traded by value on the DSE as its shares worth Tk 47.91 crore were traded on the day.

Orion Pharma, which was the second most-traded stock, had a turnover of Tk 24.07 crore followed by Navana Pharmaceuticals, Eastern Housing, Bashundhara Paper Mills, Square Pharma, BSC, Aamra Network, Padma Life Insurance and Summit Alliance Port.

Meanwhile, the overall index CASPI of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) decreased over 61 points to 18,382 and securities worth Tk 13.14 crore were traded on the day.