Bangladesh’s capital market wrapped up the week with modest gains, but not without a rollercoaster of volatility that left investors on edge and reignited concerns about the market’s underlying stability.
A prolonged downtrend has led to growing discontent, with many questioning when the market will recover from its current state.
Last Wednesday, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed a steep fall of 150 points in a single day, marking the largest drop of the year so far.
Although the key index rose by nearly 100 points on the final trading day of the week, total turnover declined significantly—from the Tk 500 crore mark to the Tk 300-crore range -- indicating waning investor participation.
Tarek Hasan, a decade-long investor in the stock market, said, “Every investor is frustrated. Fluctuations happen in markets around the world, but nowhere do we see such unrestrained plunges as in ours.”
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Another investor, Kawsar Habib, added, “People once invested in the market with great enthusiasm. Even after the major manipulation in 2010, the market did not dip this low. Now, brokerage houses are nearly deserted, with few investors in sight.”
Frustrated by the relentless fall, many investors are blaming the regulatory body—the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).
According to them, the Commission is taking a series of baffling decisions and is embroiled in internal conflicts, rather than implementing meaningful reforms that could revive the market.
Throughout the week, the DSE’s key index dropped by 15 points. The Shariah-based DSES index declined by 19 points, while the blue-chip DS30 index fell by 2 points. The CSE index (CME) also saw a 7-point drop.
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Similar trends were observed in the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), where the overall index fell by 102 points over the week.
Out of 307 companies traded, prices of 111 increased while 168 declined. The prices of 28 companies remained unchanged.
Saiful Islam, President of the DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh (DBA), commented on the deteriorating situation: “Panic is being created in the market regularly. A separate group is destabilising the market through rumours. A small trigger leads to a massive fall, which highlights the underlying weaknesses of the market structure.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Managing Director of a leading brokerage firm said, “The Commission is delaying reforms under the guise of restructuring. They are using the market as a testing ground for their experiments. Under such conditions, insiders see little hope of a recovery any time soon.”
But, the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), a key institutional player, remains cautiously optimistic.
Abu Ahmed, Chairman of ICB, said, “We will soon sit for discussions with the Commission’s chief adviser. The government, at the highest level, is pushing for market stabilisation. We hope the situation will normalise within this year.”
END/UNB/MM/SAM