The broad index of the premier bourse closed the last week sharply lower, extending the losing streak for the 11th straight week amid liquidity crunch and lack of confidence in the market.
The week that ended on Thursday saw the DSEX, the broad index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), wipe out a total of 198 points in the first four sessions.
However, the index pared some losses in the remaining last session of the week to add 65 points.
At the end of the week, the DSEX settled at 5326.39 points, down 2.45 per cent from the week prior.
The Shariah-based index, DSES, also declined 2.85 per cent to close at 1233.22 points.
The DS30 index comprising blue chip securities went down by 2.33 per cent to finish at 1902.98 points.
The market capitalisation also slumped 2.36 per cent and stood at over Tk 3.97 trillion in the last week.
On January 24 last, the broad index closed at 5950.01 points. And in the last eleven weeks, the DSEX shed a total of 624 points.
According to the EBL Securities, the market faced notable price correction as worried investors kept liquidating sector-specific stocks.
The ongoing liquidity crisis in the financial sector, hike in interest rate, poor dividend declarations by many companies, increase in non-food inflation and resurfacing of due issue of Grameenphone stirred anxiety among the investors in the last few weeks, it said in a market review.
According to the International Leasing Securities, the small investors as well as the institutional ones continued their cautiousness amid ongoing liquidity shortage in the financial sector.
"The shaky investors liquidated their stocks from almost all the sectors. Telecoms, financial institutions, fuel & power, engineering, bank and pharmaceuticals sectors observed a notable correction," said a market review of the International Leasing Securities.
Of 353 issues traded, only 52 issues advanced, 280 declined and 19 remained unchanged in the last week.
The DSE featured an average daily turnover of Tk 3.34 billion, down 16.85 per cent from the previous week.
Of the major sectors which witnessed price corrections, telecommunications declined 4.5 per cent, cement 5.6 per cent, textile 4.2 per cent, financial institutions 3.8 per cent, fuel & power 3.2 per cent, bank 1.6 per cent and engineering 2.6 per cent.
The investors' activity was mostly focused on engineering sector which grabbed 14.2 per cent of the weekly turnover, followed by fuel & power (12.8 per cent), pharmaceuticals & chemicals (11.5 per cent) and textile (10.6 per cent).
The United Power Generation & Distribution Company topped the weekly turnover chart of the DSE. It featured a total turnover of Tk 1.0 billion.
The Eastern Cables was the top gainer on the DSE. Its share price rose 12.85 per cent to close at Tk 332.90 each. The company featured a daily average turnover of Tk 89.15 million.
On the other hand, the British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company was the biggest loser. The company's share price declined 66.43 per cent to close at Tk 1532.60 each.
All indices of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower in the last week.
The CSE30, CSCX and CASPI lost 404 points, 262 points and 433 points respectively on the port city bourse.
