Investors in dejection as Bangladesh's stocks plunge. BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks witnessed a big fall last week that ended on Thursday with low trading activities as investors were on selling mood throughout the week.
Analysts said the cautious investors went on selling spree, especially the heavyweight banking sector issues as the Bangladesh Bank plans to rein in liquidity flow by cutting advance-deposit- ratio (ADR) to avert inflationary risk amid high growth in the private sector credit.
The ADR issue put a damper on the capital market keeping the daily turnover below BDT 5.0 billion throughout the week.
The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of them, first four sessions closed lower while last one saw marginal gain.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down more than 123 points or 1.96 percent to finish at 6,179 points.
The two other indices also ended lower. The DSE 30 Index comprising blue chips fell nearly 42 points or 1.82 percent to settle at 2,253 points.
The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) also lost 16 points or 1.14 percent to close at 1,391 points.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with CSE All Share Price Index -- (CAPSI) – losing 397 points or 2.03 percent to finish at 19,098 points.
The Selective Categories Index of the port city bourse -- CSCX, also lost 247 points or 2.32 percent to close at 11,536 points.
Bearish sentiment also reflected on the turnover activities as daily turnover averaged BDT 4.46 billion, which was more than 14 percent lower than the previous week’s average of BDT 5.19 billion.
According to EBL Securities, some macroeconomic aspects like increasing gold price and rising oil price in the international market have raised red flag.
“The investors opted to liquidate their holdings, especially from bank, non-bank financial institutions, fuel & power, textile and engineering sectors in anticipation of further fall ahead of quarter-end earnings disclosures and year-end dividend declarations,” said International Leasing Securities.
Among the major sectors, the banking sector posted the highest correction of 3.92 percent, followed by non-bank financial institutions with 3.07 percent, fuel & power 2.81 percent, textile 1.46 percent and engineering 1.04 percent.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 338 issues traded, 242 closed lower, 78 closed higher and 18 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
IFAD Autos topped the week’s turnover chart with 7.21 million shares worth BDT 961 million changing hands, closely followed by United Power, Paramount Textile, National Tubes and Square Pharmaceuticals.
Jute Spinners was the week’s top gainer, posting a gain of 20.06 percent while Alif Manufacturing Company was the week’s worst loser, slumping by 15.38 percent.
BBN/SSR/AD