Stocks extended their losing streak for the 13th straight week that ended on Thursday, as nervous investors continued to dump their shares to avoid further losses.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) saw Tk 321 billion of its market cap wiped out in the past three months while the benchmark index shed 684 points or 11.50 per cent during the period.
Market analysts cited several reasons, including dearth of quality stocks, lack of investors' confidence and liquidity shortage, behind such big erosion in stock prices.
The persisting bearish trend coupled with the finance minister's latest remarks on the capital market made the investors frustrated, said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.
On Monday last, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said he does not see any major problem in the present trend of the capital market.
"I think the (capital) market is on the right track," said Mr Kamal while talking to reporters after a pre-budget meeting with the BSEC officials at its office in the city.
Protesting the continuous market decline, a group of aggrieved investors staged demonstrations throughout the week under the banner of 'Bangladesh Pujibazar Biniogkari Oikya Parishad'.
On Thursday, they called a token hunger strike for Monday next, to be staged in front of the DSE building.
The past week saw four trading days instead of regular five sessions, as the market remained closed on Monday on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat. Two of the sessions closed lower while two other sessions posted marginal gain.
Week on week, the DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, settled 55.23 points or 1.04 per cent lower at 5,266.
Two other indices also followed suit. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 33.64 points to finish at 1,864 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 12.74 points to close at 1,214.
The total turnover stood at Tk 13.66 billion last week against Tk 12.32 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged out at Tk 3.41 billion, registering an increase of 10.84 per cent over the previous week's average of Tk 3.08 billion.
Block trade contributed 5.80 per cent to the week's total turnover, with stocks like Prime Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Islami Bank and Square Pharma dominating the block trade board.
The International Leasing Securities said the market extended downbeat as the shaky investors continued their selling binge amid liquidity crunch and lack of confidence in the market.
The investors' panic sell-offs in the bearish market pushed down the DSEX to 5,266 points on Thursday from 5,950 points in January 24, 2019, said the stockbroker.
The large-cap sectors witnessed the highest loss of 5.63 per cent, followed by food (2.36 per cent), engineering (2.05 per cent), and telecommunications (1.38 per cent).
The non-bank financial institutions, pharmaceuticals and banking sectors also shed 0.90 per cent, 0.34 per cent and 0.05 per cent respectively.
The EBL Securities said investors adopted a 'wait-and-see' approach during the week amid ongoing earnings and dividend season.
The market capitalisation of the DSE fell 1.45 per cent to Tk 3,894 billion on Thursday, from Tk 3,951 billion in the week before.
Losers outnumbered the gainers, as out of 348 issues traded, 224 closed lower, 96 ended higher and 28 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Fortune Shoes dominated the turnover chart, with 26.34 million shares worth Tk 1.0 billion changing hands. The company accounted for 7.33 per cent of the week's total turnover.
The other turnover leaders were Monno Ceramic, United Power, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company and National Tubes.
Standard Insurance was the week's best performer, posting a gain of 26.35 per cent while Agrani Insurance was the biggest loser, shedding 16.69 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also ended lower, with its CSE All Share Price Index -- CASPI -- shedding 118 points or 0.72 per cent to settle at 16,146 while the Selective Categories Index -- CSCX - lost 73 points or 0.74 per cent to finish at 9,769.
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