Despite an early upward trend on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), stock prices of most companies took a steep plunge by the end of trading on Monday, signaling another difficult day for investors.

In the morning, bank shares led the market, briefly boosting the index. However, the momentum reversed sharply in the last two and a half hours of trading, driving down prices across the board.

Out of the companies listed on the DSE, only 53 saw their share prices increase, while 288 recorded declines. Another 55 companies’ stock prices remained unchanged. Despite the broad downturn, major large-cap stocks such as Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, LafargeHolcim, and Sq
uare Pharmaceuticals managed to provide some cushion to the index with their price increases.

By the end of the day, the DSEX, DSE's main index, had fallen 43 points, closing at 5,335. The DSE Shariah Index also dipped slightly by 1 point to 1,189, while the DSE-30, an index of 30 selected companies, dropped by 22 points to 1,942.

In addition to the overall price declines, trading volume also contracted. On Monday, the DSE recorded a trading volume of Tk 366.55 crore, down from Tk 368.18 crore on Sunday.

Midland Bank was the largest contributor to the day's trading, with shares worth Tk 36.93 crore changing hands. Agni Systems followed with Tk 23.54 crore in trades, while Islami Bank took third place with transactions worth Tk 15.44 crore. Other notable companies in the top 10 in terms of trading volume included BRAC Bank, Lovello Ice-Cream, Grameenphone, Square Pharmaceuticals, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Social Islami Bank, and Ibn Sina.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) was not spared from the downturn. The CASPI, the CSE's benchmark index, fell by 154 points. Of the 195 firms that participated in trading, 46 posted price gains, while 122 saw their prices drop. The remaining 27 companies reported no change in stock prices.

Trading volume on the CSE also dipped, with Tk 5.75 crore traded on Monday, down from Tk 9.64 crore on Sunday.