Stock jitters linger

The capital market regulator sits with managing directors of seven leading merchant banks today to find ways of overcoming the ongoing bearish trend in the stock market.In separate meetings, the Securities and Exchange Commission is set to discuss why the market has continuously remained in the red and how soon it may return from losses, officials said yesterday.The SEC will also discuss capital market activities and margin loan facilities of the seven merchant banks, including Lanka Bangla, IDLC, AB Bank, Prime Finance.The regulatory move came after a continuous slump in the stock market, which also ended lower yesterday.The benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSE General Index, fell 47.32 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2571.62 points. The DSE All Share Price Index dropped 39.21 points, or 1.73 percent, to 2215.47 points.The market shed about 8 points in the first 10 minutes of morning trade, before gaining about 20 points within the next 20 to 25 minutes. The next half-hour saw the market lose the gains as the index approached to 2608 points. The next hour was relatively stable and the market gained around 3 points. For the rest of the session, the market continued to drop with a relatively constant rate. The day ended flat.Most securities traded down on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. Of the 229 issues traded, only 28 advanced, 189 declined and 12 remained unchanged.A total of 1,41,16,226 shares worth Tk 187.12 crore changed hands on the premier bourse.Total market capitalisation declined to Tk 91,307 crore from the previous day's Tk 92,553.93 crore.The day's top ten turnover leaders were Titas Gas, Beximco Pharma, Beximco Limited, Keya Cosmetics, Square Pharma, Lanka Bangla Finance, ACI, Uttara Bank, BATBC and Islami Bank.Titas Gas, the state-run gas distribution and transmission company, topped turnover leaders with Tk 18.44 crore in 5,18,500 shares.Like the DSE, Chittagong stocks ended lower yesterday. The CSE Selective Categories Index fell 72.35 points, or 1.35 percent, to 5268.56 points, while the CSE All Share Price Index declined 104.37 points, or 1.26 percent, to 8115.39 points.A total of 28,36,265 shares worth Tk 23.83 crore changed hands on the port city bourse. Of the 130 issues traded, only 15 advanced, 111 declined and four remained unchanged.