Stocks witnessed yet another bearish week that ended on Thursday, extending the losing streak for fifth week in a row.
During the five consecutive weeks, the core index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) shed nearly 414 points or 7.10 per cent.
Analysts said the retail investors were reluctant to make fresh investment amid ongoing bearish market trend while the institutional investors could not support the market more due to liquidity crisis.
The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of them, three sessions ended lower while two closed higher.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 13.62 points or 0.25 per cent to settle the week at 5,429 points.
"The investors' confidence remains low as prevailing bearish market trend, upcoming budget declaration coupled with disappointing earnings results, hit the market," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.
He, however, said the market fell marginally last week with increasing trading activities which was a sign of positive market trend in near.
The securities regulator sat Thursday in an emergency meeting with key stakeholders following prevailing sluggish market trend in the country's capital market.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) urged the stakeholders to play a supportive role for bringing back stability in the market.
"The news also played a vital role in helping the market bounce back on Thursday," said a stockbroker.
Two other indices also drifted lower with the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell more than 10 points to end at 2,015 and the DSES (Shariah) index lost nearly 18 points to settle at 1,259.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - shedding 75 points to settle at 16,729 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - falling 29 points to close at 10,120.
Total turnover on the DSE rose to Tk 23.58 billion last week, against Tk 19.52 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged Tk 4.71 billion, which was nearly 21 per cent higher than the previous week's average of Tk 3.90 billion.
Block trade contributed 18 per cent to the week's total turnover. Stocks like Khulna Power, Renata, Grameenphone, Square Pharmaceuticals and Alif Industries dominated the block trade board.
The engineering sector topped the turnover chart, capturing 16 per cent of the week's total turnover, closely followed by textile with 15 per cent and banking 13 per cent.
International Leasing Securities said, despite the market fell marginally, some optimistic investors showed their buying interest on bank, miscellaneous and textile sectors that helped the benchmark index close above 5,400 points mark.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also fell 3.22 per cent as it was Tk 3,983 billion on opening day of the week while it came down to Tk 3,855 billion on Thursday.
Among the major sectors, telecommunication witnessed the highest correction of 4.18 per cent, followed by banking 3.45 per cent, non-bank financial institutions 2.21 per cent, engineering 1.90 per cent and pharmaceuticals 1.60 per cent.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers last week as out of 342 issues traded, 214 closed lower, 103 advanced and 25 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
The newly-listed Intraco Refueling Station was the week's most traded stocks with 23.78 million shares worth Tk 1.18 billion changing hands, followed by BRAC Bank with Tk 778 million, Beximco Tk 760 million, United Power Tk 609 million and Legacy Footwear Tk 597 million.
Legacy Footwear was the week's higher gainer, posting a gain of 29.41 per cent while the Jamuna Bank was the worst loser, losing 22.56 per cent.
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