BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks maintained the losing streak for the two consecutive weeks that ended on Thursday due to the lack of investors’ confidence.
The week saw five trading days as usual. Of them, first four sessions closed lower while last one ended marginally higher, according to market operators.
Week on week, the DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 45 points or 0.85 per cent to settle the week at 5,230.
Investors kept their selling binge amid ongoing liquidity crunch in the money market while many have followed cautious stance in the holy month of Ramadan, they explained.
The financial sector remained volatile with liquidity crunch, soaring interest rate, huge non-performing loans coupled with pressure on the exchange rate that spilled over into the capital market, they added.
They also said the government market supportive measures including redefine the banks’ capital market exposure to increase the fund flow in the capital market yet to attract investors.
As per the government measures, the central bank of Bangladesh has widened banks’ scope to invest in the stock market and infrastructural fund.
The central bank on Thursday issued a circular in this regard that banks’ investment in non-listed securities would not be counted as their capital market exposure.
The government also extended the tenure of the capital market refinancing scheme up to December 31, 2022 while the securities regulator enforced the extended lock-in period for placement shareholders and sponsors.
Two other indices of the premier bourse also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 33 points to finish at 1,818 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 23 points to close at 1,197.
The total turnover on the DSE stood at BDT 14.61 billion, down from BDT 21.45 billion a week ago.
The daily turnover averaged at BDT 2.92 billion, registering a decline of 32 per cent over the previous week’s average of BDT 4.28 billion.
Block trade contributed 4.0 per cent to the week’s total turnover, with stocks like Islami Bank Bangladesh, Mutual Trust Bank, Grameenphone, Jamuna Bank and Bank Asia dominated the block trade board.
Most of the major sectors saw correction with telecommunication posted the highest loss of 2.60 per cent, followed by food (2.55 per cent), pharmaceuticals (2.21 per cent), engineering (1.66 per cent) and non-bank financial institutions (0.45 per cent).
The banking sector witnessed the highest gain of 0.78 per cent, after the news that most of the listed banks saw their earnings per share rise in January-March quarter of 2019, followed by the power (0.33 per cent).
The market capitalisation of the DSE also fell 0.96 per cent to BDT 3,848 billion on Thursday, down from BDT 3,885 billion in the week before.
Losers outnumbered the gainers, as out of 350 issues traded, 195 closed lower, 122 ended higher and 33 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Fortune Shoes dominated the turnover chart, with 19.48 million shares worth BDT 733 million changing hands. The company accounted for 5.02 per cent of the week’s total turnover.
The other turnover leaders were BRAC Bank, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Power Grid Company and Oimex Electrode.
United Insurance was the week’s best performer, posting a gain of 13.93 per cent while SS Steel became the worst loser, plunging 10.18 per cent.
On the other hand, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower, with the CSE All Share Price Index -- CASPI – losing 185 points to settle at 16,001 and the Selective Categories Index -- CSCX – shedding 113 points to finish at 9,687.
BBN/SSR/AD