Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Bangladesh’s stocks tumble last week and the key index of the prime bourse dipping below 5,100-mark as the worry over the country’s latest political development dampened investors’ sentiment.
The week featured four trading sessions instead of five as market was closed Tuesday due to public holyday for Holy Ashura.
Of those, first three sessions saw steep decline while last one managed to close slightly higher.
Week-on-week the DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), ended the week at 5,025.10 points, shedding 148.13 points or 2.86 percent.
It was the biggest single-week loss this year.
The two other indices also saw sharp decline.
The DS30, comprising blue chips, index dropped steeply by 82.49 points or 4.23 percent to close at 1,866.98 points.
The DSE Shariah Index plunged 39.74 points or 3.26 percent to close at 1,180.30 points.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also saw sharp decline last week with its Selective Categories Index – CSCX – slumped 258.46 points or 2.66 percent to close at 9,442.81 points.
The total turnover for the week stood at BDT 27.77 billion against BDT 27.67 billion the week before.
The daily turnover for the week averaged BDT 6.94 billion, registering an increase of 25.44 percent over the previous week’s average of BDT 5.53 billion.
IDLC Investments said: “Fear of political anarchy amid nation-wide strikes slashed market movements as well as investors’ confidence”.
The investors streamlined their portfolio allocation very carefully and pursued ‘wait and see’ approach, said the merchant bank.
LankaBangla Securities said: “The benchmark index, DSEX lost 148.13 points during the week as investors went selling frenzy amid weeklong countrywide strike”.
“At the last trading session of the week index got support near 5,000-level which indicates investors’ reluctance to sell stocks at this price level,” said the stock broker.
“The main reason for this slide in price seemed to be the stale performance by most of the listed entities in July to September quarter”
Looking at the earnings figure one can infer that business environment in local market has not yet got its momentum, said the stock broker.
However, newly listed companies dominated throughout the week registering hefty returns.
Among the major sectors, cement lost 6.01 percent while engineering sector registered astounding 8.01 percent gain in market cap.
Losers outpaced gainers as out of 313 issues traded, 218 declined, 75 advanced and 20 remained unchanged on DSE floor during the week.
The new issue – Western Marine Shipyard – dominated the week’s top turnover chart with shares worth BDT 2.36 billion changing hands followed by Khulna Power Company, Keya Cosmetics, Saif Powertec and GP.
Anwar Galvanizing was also the week’s top gainer, posting a rise of 30.42 percent per cent while Fine Foods was the week’s worst loser, slumping by 27.15 percent.
BBN/BB/SS-07Nov14-6:40pm (BST)