BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks fell sharply in the last week that ended on Thursday after a six-week rally, as investors adopted a ‘cautious’ stance following latest monetary policy of the central bank.
Investors were also observing quarterly performance of the listed companies to pick the right stocks, market operators explained.
The central bank of Bangladesh unveiled its second-half (H2) yearly monetary policy statement (MPS) for this fiscal year on Wednesday, maintained a ‘cautious’ monetary policy stance with slight downward revision of the private sector credit growth target and notable increase in the credit growth target for public sector .
All the indices of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) slumped, with the major sectors, including banking and financial institution, witnessing price correction.
The broad index of DSE -- DSEX -- tumbled in the last week after remaining upbeat over the previous six weeks.
In the last week that featured five trading sessions as usual, the DSEX kept wiping out gains in four of the sessions. It closed in the green territory in only one session.
Week on week, The DSEX settled 2.17 per cent or 129 points lower at 5,821.
The Shariah-based index -- DSES -- also declined 0.83 per cent or 11.01 points to close at 1310.60 while the DS30 index, comprising blue chip securities, ended 41 points lower at 2007.96.
The turnover, however, remained encouraging in the last week. The DSE featured a total turnover of BDT 51.71 billion in the five trading sessions.
The average daily turnover stood at BDT 10.37 billion, 7.0 per cent up from the average daily turnover in the previous week.
Of 350 issues traded on the premier bourse, 105 advanced, 238 declined and five remained flat.
Financial institutions saw the highest price correction of 7.0 per cent followed by paper & printing (6.4 per cent), banking (5.4 per cent), life insurance (4.6 per cent) and engineering (1.3 per cent) and textile (1.2 per cent).
On the other hand, fuel & power sector rose 2.9 per cent, general insurance 2.2 per cent, telecommunications 1.0 per cent and miscellaneous 2.8 per cent.
General insurance sector dominated the turnover chart, seizing 15.4 per cent of the week’s total turnover, followed by banking sector (12.9 per cent) and textile (11.5 per cent).
The insurance companies also ruled the gainers’ chart. Of the top 10 gainers, seven were from the insurance sector.
Provati Insurance was the top gainer, as its shares surged 54.51 per cent.
Other major gainers were Asia Insurance Company, Monno Jute Stafflers, Prime Insurance Company, Janata Insurance Company, Malek Spinning Mills, Purabi General Insurance Company, Monno Ceramic Industries, Paramount Insurance Company and Sonar Bangla Insurance.
On the other hand, the port city bourse -- Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) -- also saw all its indices drop in the last week.
During the week, CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI), Selective Categories Index (CSCX) and CSE30 lost 375 points, 219.18 points and 369 points respectively.
BBN/SSR/AD