Stocks slipped into the red in the outgoing week that ended on Thursday as shaky investors opted for booking profit on sector-wise issues based on the latest corporate declarations.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the core index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 37.09 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 4,905, after gaining 96 points in the week before.
Market operators said the retail investors went on profit booking sell-offs on major sector stocks as many investors opted to cash out gains from large-cap issues.
Throughout the week the market exhibited volatility as buyers and sellers both maintained cautiousness about their trade execution, said a merchant banker.
He noted that while the market struggled to remain positive, waves of sell pressure beat it down in frequent intervals, taking the market index into the negative territory.
As three IPOs, one is the biggest ever, hit the market within a few days and many investors disposed of shares of other companies, he said.
However, bargain hunters showed their buying appetite on sector-specific issues which declared satisfactory dividend and quarterly earnings, he added.
A section of investors has been disposing of their current position to join the forthcoming IPO subscriptions which kept the market depressed for the past few sessions, commented EBL Securities.
The week featured five trading days as usual. Of them, three sessions faced correction while two sessions edged higher.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DSE 30 Index comprising blue chips dropped 14.05 points to finish at 1,711 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 3.03 points to close at 1,117.
Total turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 45.56 billion last week which was Tk 42.22 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged Tk 9.11 billion last week which was Tk 8.44 billion in the previous week, registering an increase of 7.91 per cent.
Among the major sectors, non-bank financial institutions witnessed the highest correction, losing 3.80 per cent, followed by textile with 3.0 per cent, general insurance 2.90 per cent, telecom 1.50 per cent, pharma 0.70 per cent and power 0.50 per cent.
On the other hand, the mutual fund sector posted the highest gain of 11.40 per cent and nine out of the top 10 gainers of the week belong to mutual fund sector. Engineering and banking sectors also gained 9.30 per cent and 0.50 per cent respectively.
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 361 issues traded, 188 closed lower, 103 ended higher and 70 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
The market capitalisation of the DSE, however, advanced 0.11 per cent week-on-week to Tk 3,984 billion on Thursday.
Beximco Pharma continued to dominate the weekly turnover chart with 32.19 million shares worth Tk 4.39 billion changing hands during the week, followed by Beximco, Asia Pacific Insurance, Brac Bank, and Associated Oxygen.
CAPM IBBL Islamic Mutual Fund was the week's best performer, posting a 50.63 per cent while Hamid Fabrics was the week's worst loser, losing 14.75 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 121 points to settle at 14,067 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX shedding 66 points to close at 8,470.
Of the issues traded, 162 declined, 90 advanced and 59 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 66.83 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 1.50 billion during the week.
