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Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s stocks posted a modest gain last week, snapping a four-week losing streak as bargain hunters showed their appetite on sector-wise issues.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 40.45 points or 0.92 per cent to settle at 4,459, after shedding 312 points in the past four straight weeks.
The capital market passed a worst year in 2019 since the market debacle in 2010-2011, with DSEX losing 933 points amid confidence crisis, liquidity crunch and gloomy macroeconomic outlook.
Market insiders said lucrative price of many fundamentally sound stocks attracted bargain hunters in the outgoing week, taking the in the green zone.
Investors showed their appetite on sector-wise large-cap issues, particularly in engineering, food, power, financial institutions and pharma sectors, they explained.
Two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 2.83 points to finish at 1,505 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 14.51 points to close at 1,009.
The weekly total turnover on the DSE also rose to BDT 13.02 billion, up from BDT 10.79 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged BDT 3.25 billion, up nearly 21 per cent from the previous week’s average of BDT 2.69 billion.
However, lack of confidence among the investors regarding the future market direction fueled the sell pressure on banking and telecom sector stocks.
The telecom sector suffered most, losing 1.24 per cent, closely followed by banking with 1 15 per cent.
On the other hand, engineering posted the highest gain of 3.27 per cent, followed by food 2.96 per cent, power 1.53 per cent, financial institutions 1.10 per cent and pharma 0.81 per cent.
The market capitalisation of the DSE rose 0.68 per cent to BDT 3,408 billion on Thursday, from BDT 3,384 billion in the previous week.
Gainers outnumbered the losers, as out of 356 issues traded, 232 closed higher and 86 ended lower while 38 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor in the outgoing week.
Khulna Power dominated the week’s turnover chart with shares worth BDT 585 million changing hands during the week.
Oimex Electrode was the week’s best performer, posting a gain of 19.07 per cent while the Appollo Ispat Complex was the worst loser, losing 10 per cent.
On the other hand, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged higher, with its CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI – gaining 80 points to settle at 13,544 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX – advancing 45 points to finish the week at 8,208.
BBN/SSR/AD