Stocks lost 3.2 percent yesterday, the highest for a single day in three and a half months, on the back of a drop in some big companies.
DSEX, the benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, closed the day at 4090.02 points, after edging down 133.59 points. In terms of prices, 93 out of 288 traded scrips lost more than 4 percent.
The large-cap companies such as Grameenphone, Titas Gas, Padma Oil, Meghna Petroleum and Jamuna Oil have made a disproportionate impact on the index, said Mashrib Zahid, managing director of Cosmopolitan Finance.
In the lead-up to the fall, the companies had a good run, buoyed by anticipation of generous dividends.
“But the companies’ performance failed to meet investors’ expectations,” he said, while citing the case of Grameenphone.
Grameenphone’s net profit dropped an astronomical 86.67 percent year-on-year to Tk 60 crore in the second quarter of 2013 due to huge provisioning requirement for tax expenses and deferred tax liability.
The Q2 earnings per share of Grameenphone slipped to 0.43 from 3.31. Grameenphone lost 4.76 percent today.
“It’s safe to say that the big drop by the large companies was a correction. It is nothing to worry,” Zahid added.
Grameenphone’s low earnings weighed heavily on investors’ sentiments, said Md Moniruzzaman, managing director of IDLC Investments, adding that some investors went on selling shares to pocket profits.
“Once the favoured oil marketing companies took a heavy beating, the other large-cap stocks declined with equal velocity,” said LankaBangla Securities in its analysis.
Investors are still looking for tangible cause of this fierce fall, when the money market scenario is relatively calm, the stockbroker said.
Turnover, the most important indicator for the market, declined 22.77 percent to Tk 607 crore, compared to the previous day.
Of the 288 issues that traded on the DSE floor, 41 advanced, 225 declined and 22 remained unchanged.
A total of 1.22 lakh trades were executed, with 10.42 lakh shares and mutual fund units changing hands on the Dhaka bourse.
Power sector accounted for 29.87 of the total market turnover and telecoms 12.58 percent.
Almost all the major sectors declined on the day, with travel and leisure 6.41 percent, engineering 5.55 percent, telecoms 5.37 percent and power 5.29 percent.
Meghna Petroleum topped the trading chart with its transaction of 21.92 lakh shares worth Tk 63.42 crore.
JMI Syringe and Medical Devices was the biggest gainer of the day, posting a 9.94 percent gain, while Progressive Life Insurance was the worst loser, plunging by 19.55 percent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also declined yesterday: its selective categories index, CSCX, closed the day at 8,091.47 points after dropping 228 points or 2.74 percent. Losers beat gainer by 161 to 21, with 11 issues remaining unchanged on the port city bourse that traded 1.12 crore shares and mutual fund units with Tk 49.88 crore in turnover.
Source: The Daily Star
