The bearish trend continued on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Monday, which saw the key market index ending 70 points down and sparking angry protest by retail investors.

In the last five trading sessions, the main market gauge DGEN index lost 377 points while the turnover value also decreased significantly. Aggrieved investors came out from their respective brokerage houses and staged demonstration in front of DSE Building at Motijheel at around 1:45pm following a steep fall in DSE indices.

During their protest, investors blamed the silence of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the DSE on minimum share holding by the directors of the listed companies for the fall.

The DGEN General Index of the DSE ended at 4,645 points yesterday after shedding 70 points of 1.48 percent at the closing of the session.

The broader DSE All share Price index (DSI) also lost 56 points or 1.40 percent to close at 3,935 points while the DSE-20 index of blue-chip shares declined 30 points or 0.83 percent to finish the session at 3,599 points.

Of the total issues traded, 200 declined, 35 advanced and the rest 23 remained unchanged.

The market went down as investors’ confidence eroded after fresh writ petitions last week on minimum share holding by company directors, said Akter H Sannamat, a share market analyst.

He also suggested that the market regulator extend time to fill-up the minimum share quota of the company directors.

“It is apparent that participation of investors dropped significantly, as investors remained in dread regarding the ongoing writ issues on minimum share holding and adopted a wait-and-see approach, said IDLC in its daily market analysis.

Among the major sectors, non-bank financial institutions dropped the highest 2.79 percent, banks 1.16 percent, power 1.31 percent, pharmaceuticals 1.09 percent and telecommunication 0.74 percent.