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Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Bangladesh’s stocks witnessed a big jolt in the last week with all indices plunged more than 3.0 per cent, as worried investors dumped their holdings amid growing concern over the country’s macroeconomic situation.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), slumped 157 points or 3.36 per cent to settle at 4,514.The DSEX has lost a cumulative 267 points in the past one month while it shed 1,436 points since January 24, this year, when the index peaked at 5,950.
Market insiders said investors had been suffering a lack of confidence for long while poor macroeconomic indicators, dearth of quality stocks and liquidity crunch exacerbated the ongoing confidence crisis among investors.
Institutional investors were not playing a supportive role amid liquidity crunch while foreign investors have continued pulling funds out of the market amid low confidence, they added.
The market capitalisation also eroded BDT 165 billion in one month while it wiped-out BDT 763 billion in the past ten months, the DSE data shows.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 57.70 points to finish at 1,548 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 39.25 points to close at BDT 1,016.
The weekly total turnover on the prime bourse stood at BDT 15.74 billion, down from BDT 23.10 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged out at BDT 3.15 billion, down 32 per cent from the previous week’s average of Tk 4.62 billion.
The outgoing week saw five trading days as usual. Of them first three sessions saw sharp fall while last two inched higher.
Losers outnumbered the gainers, as out of 356 issues traded, 277 closed lower and 64 ended higher while 15 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor in the outgoing week.
All the major sectors suffered loss more than 3.0 per cent with food sector witnessed the highest loss of 5.30 per cent, followed by power with 3.78 per cent, engineering 3.43 per cent, financial institutions 3.41 per cent, telecom 3.25 per cent, pharma 3.11 per cent and banking 3.04 per cent.
On the other hand, Square Pharmaceuticals dominated the week’s turnover chart shares worth BDT 416 million changing hands during the week.
The week’s other turnover leaders were Sinobangla Industries, Khulna Power, Sonar Bangla Insurance and Paramount Insurance.
Anlimayarn Dyeing was the week’s best performer, posting a gain of 12.76 per cent while the Makson Spinning was the worst loser, losing 18.18 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw sharp decline, with its CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI – losing 470 points to settle at 13,733 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX – shedding 291 points to finish the week at 8,332.
BBN/SSR/AD
