Political jitters sink stocks

The stockmarket is feeling the pinch of rising political tension centring the upcoming parliamentary election, stakeholders and investors said yesterday.

They apprehend that if the fear intensifies, the market indicators would fall further and burn down investors' money.

The benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, has been falling for seven consecutive days. It dented investors' confidence and was well-reflected in the turnover.

Turnover came down to a nine-month low of Tk 314 crore, down 37 percent from that of the previous day. On March 27, the turnover stood at Tk 311 crore.

The market lost nearly Tk 6,134 crore, or 1.60 percent, of its value, in the last seven working days.


“Political situation centring the national polls is the main reason behind the recent volatility,” said Khairul Bashar Abu Taher Mohammed, secretary general of the Bangladesh Merchant Bankers' Association and chief executive officer of MTB Capital.

He said political tensions affecting stockmarkets were a common scenario globally. Investors are now adopting a wait-and-see stance, so the market has been affected. He expressed hope that the market would return to normalcy after the election.

Md Saifuddin, managing director of IDLC Securities, said investors had a perception that the market would be affected ahead of the election.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net

Share this news on: