Stocks plunged yesterday amid a sell-off, reflecting a downbeat investor sentiment as the market reopened after three days following the recent violence stemming from the quota reform movement.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down 95 points or 1.76 percent to finish at 5,350.

The trend was the same at Chittagong Stock Exchange. The CASPI, the general index of the CSE, dropped 145 points, or 0.93 percent.

Trading at the country's stock exchanges remained closed for the last three days of the week due to the internet blackout.

Stock market analysts are saying that the recent turmoil centring the quota reform movement prompted many general investors to go for selling shares.

The stock market index fell as institutional investors too did not buy shares.

Investors' participation was thin as most of them could not monitor stock trading through their mobile phones because of the absence of mobile internet, said a stock market broker.

Stock trading may improve with the restoration of internet countrywide, he hoped.

A top official of a leading stock brokerage firm, preferring anonymity, said there are many reasons for the depletion of confidence among investors although political instability was absent for many years.

Now, the violence has led to apprehensions that any type of small outburst may lead to large protests. So, investors will be cautious about their investments in the stock market, he said.

Frequent policy changes, presence of only a handful of listed companies with a good performance record, a lack of accountability and rampant manipulation are the main causative factors behind the apprehensions, he said.

Usually, political tension becomes a headache once in every five years during the national elections. But this movement showed that violence can erupt any time in Bangladesh and it can spook investors, he said.

The Shariah-based companies' stock index, the DSES, fell 21 points, or 1.83 percent, yesterday to 1,169.

At the same time, the DS-30, the index for blue-chip stocks, plummeted 37 points, or 1.91 percent, to 1,908. Some Tk 159 crore worth of shares changed hands, which was the lowest turnover since January 3, 2023.

Of the issues undergoing trade, 13 advanced, 352 declined and 14 remained unchanged.