BANGLADESH

Trading on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has begun with the general index down by 80 points in the opening hour of the week's first business day.

The index lost 80.06 points or 1.39 percent to 5647.73 points around 12:01pm on Sunday.

Of the 226 issues traded until then, only 28 advanced, 193 declined and five remained unchanged.

THe turnover stood at Tk 754 million.

The index plummeted 57.68 points or 1.00 percent to 5670.11 around 11:38 am.

The stock market has been on a low for almost a year now, and no measure by regulators, government or major investors seems to be able to prop the market up.

Spiralling fall in the last two-and-a-half months has shaved 1000 points off the DSE general index.

The index has been falling since January. It turned around once in July but has since faced a massive fall.