Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks returned to the red last week that ended Thursday, after remaining upbeat in the previous week, as cautious investors booked quick-profit on large-cap stocks.
The week witnessed four trading sessions as the market was closed Monday due to Shab-e-Barat. Of them, two sessions closed flat, one saw negative, while last session ended marginally higher.
The benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went down by 4.87 points or 0.11 percent to settle the week at 4,388.01 points.
The two other indices also edged lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 11.25 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 1,707.97 points. The DSE Shariah Index shed 0.88 point or 0.08 percent to close at 1,076.59 points.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged lower with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, shedding 14.64 points or 0.18 percent to settle at 8,240.29 points.
Trading activities remained low as the total turnover for the week stood at BDT 14.88 billion against BDT 16.35 billion in the week before as last week saw four trading sessions instead previous week’s five.
The daily turnover averaged BDT 3.72 billion, registering an increase of 14 percent over the previous week’s average of BDT 3.27 billion.
“The market faced some profit booking pressure last week after previous week’s gaining streak,” said IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, in its weekly analysis.
The merchant bank noted that the profit taking trades dominated the market in the first three sessions. However, the bourse reverted into gaining momentum at the last session of the week.
“The market turnover value reduced which implies that investors remained cautious about business activities in economy,” said LankaBangla Securities, a stockbroker, in an analysis.
The losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 326 issues traded, 151 closed lower, 141 higher and 34 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor during the week.
Shahjibazar Power Company Limited (SPCL) dominated the week’s turnover chart on the DSE with shares worth BDT 596 million changing hands, followed by Lafarge Surma Cement, MJL BD, United Power and Doreen Power.
Zaheentex Industries was the week’s best performer, posting a gain of 21.56 percent, while Modern Dyeing & Screen Printing was the week’s worst loser, slumping by 16.26 percent.
BBN/SSR/AD