All steps taken so far by the regulatory body to stop the current losing streak at the stock markets in Bangladesh appeared to have failed.

At a meeting with the stakeholders on Tuesday, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) made three interim decisions to prevent the fall. But the next day, the market lost heavily.

In view of this, on Wednesday, the regulatory body issued new guidelines by setting a new limit for the reduction of share prices. But the downtrent continued to deepen further on Thursday.

Investors panicked in this volatile capital market which witnessed two and a half months of decline.

Investors have spent more time worrying about getting more investment than they have had the chance to be happy with the index's rise this time around.

At one stage of trading on Thursday, DSEX, the main index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), plummeted below 5500 points after three years.

On Thursday, DSEX went down by 60.49 points or 1.08% to 5,518.48. 

Two other indices also ended sharply lower with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, plunged 10.17 points to finish at 1,974.5.

The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 12.30 points to close at 1,217.27. Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, decreased by 15.1% to Tk511.43 crore which was Tk602.74 crore at the previous session of the week.

Out of 396 issues traded, 300 declined, 69 advanced and 27 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

According to the DSE, the capital market traded for a total of 46 days, from 12 February to 25 April.

During this period, the index declined for 34 days and increased for the remaining 12 days only.

In these 34 days, DSEX fell by 1335.94 points. In the remaining 12 days, the index rose by only 407.35 points.

The trend of decline is such that the market capitalization has decreased by Tk3.14 thousand crore in a single day.

Former president of Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) Sayadur Rahman said panic spread among investors mainly due to the fall in the past two and a half months, 

They are not making new investments to protect their investments, but are also selling their holdings to reduce losses, he said.

BMBA president, however, emphasised that there is nothing to fear, citing that the regulator on Wednesday set the minimum circuit breaker for the stocks.

“I hope this decline in the capital market will end soon. It is a misconception that institutional investors are not investing. All institutional investors are investing more or less.”

In its daily market review, EBL Securities, a stock brokerage, said the depressed capital market observed further backlash as investors reacted adversely to the regulator's effort.

It added the dominant sell-offs in the majority of scrips led the intra-day benchmark index to plunge below the 5,500 mark after three years.

Sellers remained predominant right from the start of Thursday's session as they were wary of the market's outlook, which led the majority of scrips to get stuck at the revised lower circuit without having sufficient buyers, it said.

“However, some opportunistic investors opted to take positions in particular beaten-down low cap scrips by the end of the session with a positive expectation of a potential short-term gain,” EBL Securities added.

On Thursday, on the sectoral front, the Pharma sector exerted the highest turnover with 25.0%, followed by Food 14.8% and IT 9.3%.

Almost all the sectors displayed dismal returns, out of which, Tannery, Food and Financial Institutions sectors exerted the most corrections with -2.5%, -2.1% and -2.0% respectively.

However, jute (5.6%), IT (2.1%) and paper (1.4%) exhibited some positive returns.

Orion Infusion topped the turnover chart, followed by Lovello, ITC, Kohinoor and Asiatic Laboratories.

ADN Teelcom was the day's top gainer, posting 8.66% gain while Bata Shoe was the worst loser with 3.77% losses.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended sharply lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 164.44 points to settle at 15,815.75.

The Selective Categories Index - CSCX- shed 100.27 points to close at 9,521.92.

Of the issues traded, 161 declined, 33 advanced and 25 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city's bourse traded 34.83 lakh shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth about Tk11.11 crore.