Shares on Dhaka Stock Exchange fell yesterday to a four-and-a-half-month low in spite of the regulator’s efforts to lift it up.The benchmark index, DSEX, of the premier bourse gave up 20.49 points, or 0.38 percent, finishing the day at 5,240.36.The index started to decline heavily at the outset, falling more than 50 points within less than an hour of trading.Market insiders say the index could have fallen further during the rest of the session had the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission not requested some institutional investors to come forward to support the market in order to boost general investors’ confidence.Subsequently, some institutions extended as much support as possible but it was not adequate to avoid the slump.However, the turnover, one of the important indicators, rose 37.06 percent to Tk 332.84 crore with 7.69 crore shares and mutual fund units changing hands on the DSE.Of the traded issues, 104 advanced, 203 declined and 39 closed unchanged on the bourse.United Power Generation dominated the turnover chart with 7.97 lakh shares worth Tk 23.56 crore changing hands, followed by National Tubes, Monno Ceramics, Fortune Shoes and Bangladesh Submarine Cable.Fine Foods was the day’s best performer with a 9.90 percent gain while Premier Bank was the worst loser shedding 18.46 percent.The most negative index contributors were United Power Generation, Premier Bank and British American Tobacco Bangladesh.Meanwhile, a group of general investors continued to stage a demonstration in front of the DSE building in protest of the continuous fall in the index.Chittagong stocks also closed low with the bourse’s benchmark index, the CSCX, declining 45.65 points, or 0.46 percent, to finish at 9,708.45.Losers beat gainers as 148 issues declined, 64 advanced and 23 finished unchanged on Chittagong Stock Exchange.The port city bourse traded 42.28 lakh shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 13.66 crore.
