, March 3 -- Trading at the country's two bourses witnessed a sharp downturn on Tuesday, the third working day of the week, with major indices posting significant losses in the first half of the session.

At the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the benchmark DSEX shed 165 points by midday.

The Shariah-based DSES declined 26 points, while the blue-chip DS30 index fell 71 points, reflecting broad-based selling pressure across sectors.

Most listed companies faced price erosion.

Of the traded issues, 347 advanced declined, compared to only 30 that registered gains, while 11 remained unchanged.

Turnover at the DSE stood at around Tk 600 crore in the first half of trading, indicating active participation despite the steep fall in indices.

A sim...