BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks witnessed yet another bearish week that ended on Thursday, extending the losing streak for the third straight weeks, as worried investors continued their selling binge.
The government’s move to liquidate People’s Leasing and Financial Services (PLFS) coupled with GP woes continued to hunt investors’ sentiment, market operators said.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 91.6 points or 1.75 per cent to settle the week at 5,130 over the previous week.
DSEX suffered a 299 points or 5.5 per cent loss in the past three consecutive weeks.
Following the continuous fall, a group of small investors staged demonstration in front of the DSE building throughout the week in protest against the inaction of the authorities concerned to buoy-up the market.
The aggrieved investors also handed over a memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday and called for initiative from the government to revive the market.
“Investors sold shares following PLFSL’s liquidation move as they feared some other companies in the financial sector might face the same fate due to their weak business performance,” they added.
The outgoing week saw five trading days as usual. Of them, three sessions closed lower while two posted marginal gain.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 28.13 points to finish at 1,829 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 17.46 points to end at 1,176.
International Leasing said stocks continued to bleed, hitting a 30-month low during the week as the panic-driven investors sustained selling of shares due to lack of confidence.
The shaky investors followed cautious stance and some optimistic investors showed buying interest after approval of new public issue rules, said the stockbroker.
The total turnover on the prime bourse stood at BDT 16.36 billion, down from BDT 21.12 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged out at BDT 3.27 billion, registering a decline of nearly 23 per cent over the previous week’s average of BDT 4.22 billion.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also came down 1.12 per cent to BDT 3,822 billion on Thursday from BDT 3,866 billion in the week before.
Block trade contributed 2.6 per cent to the total week’s total turnover where stocks like Fortune Shoes, Beacon Pharma, BRAC Bank, GP and Square Pharma Beximco dominated the block trade board.
Losers outnumbers the gainers as out of 354 issues traded, 273 closed lower, 66 ended higher and 15 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Fortune Shoes dominated the week’s turnover chart, with 25.19 million shares worth BDT 965 million changing hands. The company accounted for 5.89 per cent of the week’s total turnover.
SEML FBLSL Growth Fund was the week’s best performer, posting a gain of 57.95 per cent while BIFC was the worst loser, plunging by 34.09 per cent.
On the other hand, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower, with its CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –shedding 248 points to settle at 15,724 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX – plunging 143 points to finish the week at 9,558.
BBN/SSR/AD