Bangladesh’s stock market suffered a significant decline on Monday, the second trading day of the week, amid widespread selling pressure and market rumours. In response, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) urged investors to remain cautious and avoid making decisions based on unverified information.

The market regulator said no undue or intentional intervention was taking place in the market. Instead, it alleged that a vested group was attempting to create uncertainty among investors by spreading misleading information through various channels, including social media. BSEC advised investors not to trust information without proper verification.

Market observers noted that the scale of the sell-off and the sharp decline in indices were unlikely to have been driven solely by retail investors. They suggested that influential market participants could have played a role and called for an investigation by the surveillance teams of BSEC and the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) to identify the source of the heavy selling pressure and the stocks involved.

At the close of trading, the benchmark DSEX index of the DSE fell by 85 points to 5,554. The DSE Shariah Index lost 19 points to 1,129, while the blue-chip DS30 Index declined by 35 points to 2,110. Most listed companies recorded price declines, and overall market turnover also weakened significantly.

The negative sentiment extended to the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), where the CASPI index dropped 167 points to 15,082. Of the 239 issues traded, 39 advanced, 174 declined, and 26 remained unchanged. Total turnover at the CSE stood at Tk 744.2 million.

BSEC Executive Director and spokesperson Md. Abul Kalam said concerns being raised about market surveillance were unnecessary. He noted that the current monitoring system was not new and that the stock exchanges and BSEC had been conducting real-time market surveillance jointly since 2013.

He reiterated that the commission was not interfering in the market and had no plans to do so in the future. However, he warned that certain groups were spreading rumours to mislead investors and again urged market participants to verify information before acting on it.

Commenting on recent market developments, Associate Professor Al-Amin of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at the University of Dhaka said many stocks had experienced substantial price increases in recent months, prompting investors to lock in profits.

However, he added that the magnitude of Monday’s selling pressure and market decline suggested that factors beyond retail investor activity may have been involved. According to him, DSE’s surveillance team should be able to identify the sources of large-scale selling and determine which stocks were at the center of the market downturn, helping to uncover the actual reasons behind the sharp fall.