Home
+
Published : 27 May 2025, 07:08 PM
Investor caution has dragged the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) to a five-year low, with sustained selling and lacklustre trading reflecting deep market uncertainty.
On Tuesday, the benchmark index, DSEX, lost 41 points to close at 4,678, matching its level from Nov 4, 2019.
This marks a drop of 123 points over five consecutive sessions of decline.
The index had fallen even lower during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, plunging to 3,603 on Mar 18, 2020.
It recovered gradually, aided by regulatory interventions like the floor price mechanism introduced by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) to stabilise the market.
Although the economy began to bounce back in early 2021 and floor prices were lifted in phases, one remains in effect.
While the measure offered temporary relief, its long-term impact continues to weigh on investor sentiment.
The market saw a brief uptick following a political transition in August last year, but momentum faded by November as trading volumes began to shrink again.
With a change in regulatory leadership and almost no fresh investment over the past 10 months, turnover has been weak since the beginning of this year.
After a major sell-off on May 6, daily turnover slipped below Tk 3 billion on May 14.
Since that point, investors have seen no meaningful improvement in either index performance or trading volumes.
The latest session began with a short-lived rise but reversed course after the first hour.
The index continued to slide, settling at 4,678 by close.
Sector-wise analysis reveals declines in share prices across textiles, engineering, fuel, biomass, and pharmaceuticals, which pulled the overall index down.
Despite this, the highest turnover was recorded in the banking, food and allied sectors, and the energy sector.
Among sectors, banks dominated turnover with Tk 538.7 million, up from Tk 460 million the day before.
Food and allied companies followed with Tk 294.1 million while power and energy stocks logged Tk 289 million.
At the close, shares of ICB, First Security Islami Bank, and Social Islami Bank recorded the highest gains.
NCC Bank, Sonargaon Textiles, and SEML Lecture Equity Management Fund posted the sharpest losses.
