BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks closed lower for the fourth straight week that ended on Thursday as risk-averse investors continued their selling spree on sector-wise stocks.
The week featured four trading sessions as the market remained closed on Sunday due to bank holiday. Of them, first two sessions closed lower while last two ended higher.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 43 points or 0.80 percent to settle at 5,362 points.
The two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 33 points to finish at 1,926 and the DSE Shariah index lost 2.48 points to end at 1,262.
According to EBL Securities, stocks fell as investors reshuffled their portfolios ahead of June-closing while some optimistic investors brought shares to get tax benefit on stock investment.
The stockbroker noted that the market participants were active showing sign of revival of confidence to the market that was reflected on later part of the week.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also finished lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI –shedding 54 points to settle at 16,504.
The Selective Categories Index - CSCX - also lost 25 points to close at 9,984.
Total turnover on the DSE stood at BDT 30.56 billion, registering a decline of 14 percent, from BDT 35.42 billion in the previous week, as last week saw four sessions instead of previous week’s five.
The daily turnover averaged BDT 7.64 billion, which was 8.0 percent higher than the previous week’s average of BDT 7.08 billion.
“The average total turnover increased as the bargain hunters took position on the lucrative price level in different stocks anticipating optimistic year-end earnings and dividend declaration,” said International Leasing Securities.
The financial institution posted the highest loss of 4.1 percent, followed by banking with 2.80 percent, pharmaceutical 2.50 percent, cement 1.8 percent and food & allied 1.10 percent.
The engineering sector dominated the turnover chart, grabbing 18 percent of the week’s total turnover, followed by pharmaceuticals with 17 percent and textile 16 percent.
Of the traded issues, 163 closed higher, 162 ended lower and 18 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Bashundhara Paper Mills, which made its share trading debut last week, was the week’s most traded stock with 16.49 million shares worth BDT 2.56 billion changing hands followed by Ratanpur Steel, United Power, Monno Ceramic and Alif Industries.
Legacy Footwear dominated the week’s gainer chart, posting a gain of 45.55 percent last week while Peoples Leasing was the worst loser, losing 21.21 percent.
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