Stock market indexes in Bangladesh fell sharply yesterday, primarily for Islami Bank Bangladesh, as investors were reluctant to pour fresh funds for the purchase of shares amidst price fluctuations.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), cascaded by 83.8 points, or 1.53 percent, from that on the previous day before closing at 5,378.

Of the drop, Islami Bank Bangladesh accounted for around 44 points, as per LankaBangla Securities.

The price of Islami Bank Bangladesh shares has more than doubled in the last two months, prompting the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission at the end of last month to direct the DSE to identify the cause.

Since then, investors have gone on a selling spree of the shares. Islami Bank Bangladesh was the most traded share yesterday, with a turnover of Tk 25.6 crore.

It also shed the most, losing 9.92 percent.

The DSES, the index that represents Shariah-based companies, also went down by 30.41 points, or 2.49 percent, to 1,190.

Meanwhile, the DS30 index, which is comprised of blue-chip firms, dropped by 26.54 points, or 1.33 percent, to 1,964.

Chittagong Stock Exchange witnessed a similar trend as the CASPI, the major index of the port city bourse, slipped by 104.52 points, or 0.68 percent, to settle at 15,167.

Of the issues that changed hands on the DSE trading floor, 180 advanced, 156 dropped and 56 did not see any price movement.

The day's turnover, which indicates the total value of shares changing hands, stood at Tk 368 crore, which was an increase of 16.68 percent.

Block trades, meaning high-volume transactions in securities that are privately negotiated and executed outside the open market, accounted for 2 percent of the total turnover.

The banking sector experienced the highest loss of 2.14 percent, followed by telecommunication (1.39 percent), engineering (0.89 percent), food and allied (0.73 percent), fuel and power (0.58 percent) and pharmaceuticals (0.37 percent).

Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) comprised the sole sector to post a gain of 0.22 percent.

As for individual companies, Fu-Wang Ceramic Industries and Fu Wang Food stood first and second on the gainers' chart, showcasing an identical gain of 9.87 percent each.

Rangpur Dairy & Food Products, Khulna Printing & Packaging, Deshbandhu Polymer, S Alam Cold Rolled Steels, Navana Pharmaceuticals, Western Marine Shipyard, Renwick Jajneswar & Co (Bd) and Advent Pharma posted gains as well.

Social Islami Bank, Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries, National Tea Company, Islamic Finance & Investment, First Security Islami Bank, Aftab Automobiles, Takaful Islami Insurance, Orion Infusion, ADN Telecom, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh and Olympic Industries suffered losses.