Retail investors are in despair as DSE witnesses volatility. BBN file photo

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) –Bangladesh’s stocks witnessed yet another bearish week to Thursday, the shortened week after Eid vacation, as jittery investors remained in selling mode amid growing macroeconomic worries.

This week saw three trading days as the market remained closed for the first two days on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha and all the three sessions closed in the red.

Week on week, DSEX, the key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), slipped 42.45 points or 0.67 per cent to settle at 6,324.50. DSEX lost over 52 points in the past two weeks.

Two other indices of DSE also ended lower this week. The DS30 Index, comprising blue-chip companies, dropped 19.92 points to close at 2,273.85 and the DSES Index, which represents Shariah-based companies, fell 10.54 points to finish at 1,377.35.

The week’s total turnover dropped to BDT 19.62 billion on the prime bourse as against BDT 38.14 billion in the week before.

The daily turnover averaged out at BDT 6.54 billion, down 14 per cent over the previous week’s average of BDT 7.63 billion.

The investors’ activities were mostly focused on the textile sector, capturing 18 per cent of the week’s total turnover, followed by miscellaneous sector (11 per cent) and engineering sector (10 per cent).

Major sectors suffered losses, with the general insurance sector posting the highest loss of 2.30 per cent, followed by miscellaneous (2.28 per cent), cement (1.60 per cent), telecoms (1.50 per cent), pharma (0.80 per cent), food (0.40 per cent), engineering (0.30 per cent) and banking (0.10 per cent).

On the other hand, power and textile sectors gained 0.30 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.

Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 388 issues traded, 234 declined, 114 advanced and 39 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

Junk stock Meghna Condensed Milk Industries was the week’s top gainer, posting a 23 per cent gain, while Janata Insurance was the worst loser, shedding 8.60 per cent.

On the other hand, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) losing 156.43 points to settle at 18,595.40 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) losing 94.99 points to close the week at 11,143.25.

Of the issues traded, 210 declined, 96 advanced and 23 issues remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.

The port-city bourse traded 20.45 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of BDT 615 million.

The market outlook remains bleak as investors are concerned over several macroeconomic issues such as shrinking foreign currency reserves, depreciating local currency and high inflationary pressure.

BBN/SSR/AD