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 week.
Analysts said earnings and dividend declarations of some companies during the week failed to meet investors’ expectation, prompting them to sell shares.
They said a section of investors also followed ‘wait-and-see’ approach during the week and eyeing on the dialogue between ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance and opposition coalition Jatiya Oikyafront held on Thursday.
The week featured five trading days as usual. Of them, three sessions lost more than 111 points while two sessions recovered 87 points.
The DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down nearly 24 points or 0.45 percent to settle the week at 5,258 points.
“The downward shift in the index is mainly driven by significant negative changes in some of the large-cap sectors like power, banking, food and engineering,” commented LankaBangla Securities.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 10.70 points to close at 1,865 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 7.74 points to end at 1,216.
Trading activities, however, increased to BDT 24.12 billion on the DSE which was BDT 20.47 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged BDT 4.82 billion, registering an increase of 18 percent over the previous week’s average of BDT 4.09 billion.
According to International Leasing Securities the wobbly investors persisted their sell offs due to reshuffle their portfolio amid ongoing quarter-end earning disclosures and year-end dividend declarations.
Among the major sectors, power witnessed the highest correction of 2.40 percent, followed by banking with 1.35 percent, food 0.79 percent, engineering 0.67 percent and telecommunication 0.54 percent.
The pharmaceuticals sector posted the highest gain of 1.28 per cent followed by financial institutions with 0.60 per cent.
Of the 346 traded issues, 263 closed higher, 157 ended lower and 26 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor last week.
Khulna Power Company continued to top the week’s turnover chart with 12.78 million shares worth BDT 1.54 billion changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were Shahjalal Islami Bank, Monno Ceramic Industries, Nurani Dyeing and Intech.
Saiham Cotton was the week’s best performer, posting a gain of 42 percent while GBB Power was the worst loser, losing 30 percent following its no dividend declaration.
The port city’s bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also ended lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI –shedding 86 points to settle at 16,161.
The Selective Categories Index - CSCX – also lost 48 points to close the week at 9,795.
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