Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)–Bangladesh’s stocks suffered a big jolt last week that ended on Thursday as investors went on a selling spree amid concerns about possible bleak economic outlook.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), came down below the 4,200-mark and closed the week at 17-month low of 4,192.21 points, plunging 181.13 points or 4.14 percent.
The two other indices also saw steep fall.
The DS30 index, comprising blue chips fell 75.59 points or 4.53 percent to close at 1,592.76 points.
The DSE Shariah Index shed 36.00 points or 3.39 percent to close at 1,024.88 points.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw steep decline, with its Selective Categories Index-CSCX – plummeted 377.12 points or 4.60 percent to close the week at 7,815.00 points.

Turnover, however, improved last week. The total turnover for the week stood at BDT 23.66 billion against BDT 17.10 billion the week before as last week saw five trading sessions instead of previous week’s four.
The daily turnover for the week averaged BDT 4.73 billion, registering an increase of 10.72 per cent over the previous week’s average of BDT 4.27 billion.
IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, said, “Wiping out last week’s promising trading activities, market again caved in facing tidal sell pressure, as investors found no solid ground to expect a turnaround.”
LankaBangla Securities, a stock broker, said, “Unstable political scenario, lowered investors’ confidence and lack of foreign participation pulled down the benchmark index by 4.14 per cent last week as all went for hefty sell off”.
Lack of confidence among the investors caused the prime bourse to witness a downbeat trend last week,” said International Leasing Securities, in its weekly analysis.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 318 issues traded, 257 declined, 47 advanced and 14 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

United Power dominated the week’s top turnover chart for the third straight week with shares worth BDT 2.83 billion changing hands during the week followed by KPCL, Western Marine, Shasha Denims and ACI Ltd.
Gemini Sea Food was the week’s top gainer, posting a rise of 18.39 percent while Dhaka Bank was the week’s worst loser, plunging by 24.12 percent following its price adjustment after record date.