Stocks plummeted for the fourth straight week that ended on Thursday as cautious investors continued to sell off shares in major sectors in the absence of market triggers.
Of the five trading days during the week, the first four sessions saw a sharp fall while the last one ended slightly higher.
Week on week, the benchmark DSEX index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dropped 155.64 points or 2.20 per cent to settle the week at 6,906.
In the past four consecutive weeks, DSEX shed more than 384 points.
Analysts said the market witnessed selling pressure almost throughout the week as retail investors continued to liquidate their stocks while institutional investors did not exhibit much exuberance amid ongoing volatility.
The investors mostly sat on the sidelines and observed the market movement amid lack of clear market direction, said a merchant banker.
"The institutional investors kept their focus on strategies, trying to spot undervalued investment opportunities," he said.
He noted that turnover continued to decline amid lack of positive triggers, which held back investors from making fresh investments.
"If the index and turnover start to rise, investors will regain their confidence," he added.
"I opted to stay on the sidelines over the last few sessions as the market is going through a correction phase, showing no clear direction," said Md Hasan Ali, a retail investor, on Thursday.
The investors remained shaky amid high volatility of the index. The DSEX went below the 7,000-point mark during the week due to heavy sell-offs on major-sectors stocks, according to a stockbroker.
Meanwhile, a good number of listed companies disclosed quarterly earnings and year-end dividends during the week.
"Stocks that failed to meet investors' dividend expectations or declared no dividends continued to lose their value throughout the week," commented International Leasing Securities.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 37.63 points to finish at 2,601 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 17.21 points to close at 1,462.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also shed Tk 119 billion or 2.12 per cent during the week and stood at Tk 5,515 billion on Thursday.
The week's total turnover stood at Tk 64.30 billion on the prime bourse against Tk 75.50 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged out at Tk 12.86 billion on the country's premier bourse, which was 15 per cent lower than the previous week's average of Tk 15.10 billion.
Investors were mostly active in the textile sector, grabbing over 19 per cent of the week's total turnover, followed by the banking sector (13 per cent) and pharma sector (12 per cent).
Losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 378 issues traded, 270 closed lower, 90 higher and 18 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Among the major sectors, non-bank financial institutions saw the highest loss of 4.20 per cent, followed by cement (4.10 per cent), food (3.90 per cent), engineering (3.30 per cent), banking (3.20 per cent), telecom (1.10 per cent) and pharma (0.40 per cent).
Beximco -- the flagship company of Beximco Group -- topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 6.22 billion changing hands, followed by IFIC Bank (Tk 3.15 billion), Orion Pharma (Tk 2.33 billion), BATBC (Tk 2.03 billion) and Saif Powertec (Tk 1.93 billion).
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also nosedived, with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) slumping 431 points to settle at 20,197 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX), losing 260 points to close at 12,132.
Of the issues traded, 240 declined, 87 advanced and 13 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city's bourse traded 70.74 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover standing at Tk 2.08 billion.
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