Stocks witnessed yet another bearish week that ended Thursday amid lack-lustre trading as investors continued their selling binge on sector-wise issues ahead of monetary policy statement (MPS) announcement.
Market operators said the ongoing pessimism, prior to the earnings declaration coupled with upcoming MPS kept investors at bay, taking the daily average turnover below Tk 4.0 billion-mark.
"A large number of investors followed cautious stance and watched next direction of the market," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.
He noted that some investors are waiting for getting clear direction from the upcoming MPS for January-June period of 2018 scheduled to be unveiled at the end of this month.
The latest amendment of Banking Companies Act and advance deposit ratio (ADR) issue also put a damper on the capital market.
Financial stocks showed the biggest negative movements last week.
The banking sector issues lost 2.85 per cent followed by non-bank financial institutions with a decline of 2.73 per cent.
"Investors, however are coming out of financial stocks and taking position on fundamentally good manufacturing firms," commented LankaBangla Securities, a stockbroker, in its weekly market analysis.
The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of them, three sessions lost 152 points while two sessions gained 95 points.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 57 points or 0.92 per cent to settle 6,122.
According to Royal Capital, some investors may expose selling attitude to protect their funds from potential loss. The observations clarify that the market trend will be somewhat confusing for the next week.
The DSE 30 Index comprising blue chips also fell more than 12 points or 0.55 per cent to settle 2,241. However, the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) advanced 12.37 points or 0.89 per cent to close 1,404.
Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with CSE All Share Price Index -- (CAPSI) - shedding 230 points or 1.20 per cent to finish 18,868.
The Selective Categories Index -- CSCX, also slumped 145 points or 1.25 per cent to end 11,391.
International Leasing Securities noted that investors also booked profits on engineering, cement and textile sectors. While, some expectant investors took position on the lucrative price level in pharmaceutical and telecom sector stocks.
Daily turnover averaged Tk 3.75 billion, which was more than 16 per cent lower than the previous week's average of Tk 4.46 billion.
Banking sector kept its dominance over the turnover chart, accounting for 20 per cent of the week's total turnover, followed by engineering with 17 per cent and pharmaceuticals 16 per cent.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also fell 0.50 per cent as it was Tk 4,209 billion on opening day of the week while it came down to Tk 4,188 billion on Thursday.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 338 issues traded, 236 closed lower, 83 closed higher and 19 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Square Pharmaceuticals topped the week's turnover chart with 4.99 million shares worth Tk 1.57 million changing hands, closely followed by Grameenphone with Tk 741 million, IFAD Autos Tk 605 million, Dragon Sweater Tk 581 million and Bangladesh Thai Aluminium Tk 499 million.
Eastern Lubricants was the week's top gainer, posting a gain of 12.26 per cent while Alif Manufacturing Company was the week's worst loser, slumping by 26.32 per cent following its price adjustment after record date for entitlement of rights issue.
babulfexpress@gmail.com