As bearish trend continues in the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the DSE General Index yesterday dipped to below 1300 points mark for the first time since July 2004.
The premier bourse's general index yesterday lost 8.88 points or declined by 0.6 per cent to close at 1294.04 points from Monday's 1302.82 points. The trading on the DSE could not be held for two days -- Tuesday and Wednesday -- due to countrywide general strike.
The general index rose to highest points on January 1, 2005 to reach at 1999.71 points on that day while the index witnessed lowest point on July 4, 2004 to close at 1304.10 points on that day.
Market analysts said the liquidity crisis in the stock market was one of the key reasons for the continuous slide in share prices and indexes.
However, they were also skeptical that the stock market might not be vibrant up to the present government's tenure. The market may rise when the Caretaker Government will take over the charge, they said.
"Investors are saving money to purchase the shares of Desco," said DSE Chief Executive Officer Salauddin Ahmed Khan.
The trading of shares of Desco will make its debut on the bourses on Sunday.
Besides, the analysts said, the banks raised their interest rates on fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) last year, while the government also increased the interest rates on savings schemes by 1.5 percentage points in last December, which encouraged the small investors to invest in such schemes instead of investing in shares.
They also said the institutional investors like banks and financial institutions, which play important role in keeping the market vibrant, are less interested in putting money in the market nowadays. Rather they are withdrawing money from the market by selling shares because of liquidity crisis in the banking sector.
A total of 19,76,693 shares of 179 issues worth Tk 16.68 crore changed hands on the DSE yesterday. Of the issues traded, 19 closed in gains, 120 suffered losses and 25 remained unchanged.
