Stocks slipped back into the red on Monday, after a single-day break, as investors mostly followed a cautious stance amid the ongoing virus scare. DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, went down by 5.40 points or 0.13 per cent to close at 3,956. Market operators said the country’s stock market has become almost buyer- less as panic gripped investors amid the fast-spreading virus hurting the earnings of listed companies. The depressed market outlook kept the investors worried, which resulted in the poor market participation as well, said a leading broker. He noted that the lack of institutional buyers coupled with current floor price limitation is preventing many investors from buying and selling shares at the desired price level. Most of the shares remained stuck at the trading floor due to floor price limitation and very few buyers came in and picked some of the offered shares. Of the issues traded, 247 remained unchanged while only 12 issues advanced and 24 declined on the DSE trading floor. Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 1.06 billion on the DSE, rising 51 per cent over the last session’s mark of Tk 700 million. Two other indices also ended lower. Of them, DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 3.08 points to finish at 1,324 and DSE Shariah Index lost 1.15 points to close at 917. A total number of 11,060 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 35.35 million shares and mutual fund units. The market-cap of the DSE also fell to Tk 3,100 billion, from Tk 3,102 billion in the previous session. Olympic Industries topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 131 million changing hands, followed by Beximco Pharma, Grameenphone and Square Pharma. Phoenix Finance 1st Mutual Fund was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 2.53 per cent while ACI Formulation was the worst loser, losing 4.32 per cent. The Chittagong Stock Exchange ended slightly lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI) losing 11 points to close at 11,249 and the Selective Categories Index CSCX falling 6.84 points to finish at 6,816. Of the issues traded, 10 gained, 16 declined and 65 remained unchanged on the CSE. The port city bourse traded 731,889 shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 15 million in turnover.
