Weekly analysis: Equities sink back into the red

Stocks returned to the red this week, as cautious investors sold off shares of major sectors to book profit.

The last trading session of the week was held on Thursday.

Market operators said most of the investors adopted a 'wait-and-see' approach as the national election is nearing.

"The downward shift in the index was mainly driven by negative changes in large-cap sectors like power, food, banking and telecommunications," the LankaBangla Securities commented in its analysis.

The power sector took the biggest hit last week, as the sector slid 2.92 per cent, followed by food (0.67 per cent), banking (0.63 per cent) and telecommunications (0.42 per cent).

The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of them, three sessions closed lower while two others managed to edge higher.

Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 24.70 points or 0.47 per cent to settle at 5,281.

Two other indices -- the DS30 index and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) -- also ended slightly lower.

The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 7.41 points to finish at 1,861 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 4.08 points to close at 1,223.

According to the International Leasing Securities, the shaky investors went for profit-booking sell-off while some of the investors adopted 'wait-and-see' approach amid ongoing fickle market trend.

The stockbroker noted that though bargain hunters tried to revive the bearish trend, the heavy selling pressure in power, financial institution, food, bank and telecom sectors eroded the buyers' attempt.

The total turnover, however, rose to Tk 31.54 billion on the DSE, which was Tk 26.29 billion in the previous week which saw four trading sessions.

The daily turnover averaged Tk 6.30 billion, registering a decline of 4.04 per cent over the previous week's average of Tk 6.57 billion.

The textile sector continued to dominate the week's turnover chart, grabbing 23 per cent of the week's total turnover. It was followed by the pharmaceuticals sector (17 per cent) and power sector (12 per cent).

The market capitalisation of the DSE also fell 0.32 per cent to Tk 3,817 billion, from Tk 3,830 billion in the previous week.

A listed company -- AMCL (Pran) -- has recommended 32 per cent stock dividend for the year ending on June 30, 2018 while three other companies -- Mithun Knitting, Bangladesh Services and Tallu Spinning -- declared 'no' dividend.

Of the 346 issues traded, 206 closed lower, 117 ended higher and 23 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor this week.

Khulna Power Company topped the week's turnover chart, with 19.21 million shares worth Tk 1.29 billion changing hands during the week.

The other turnover leaders were Saiham Textile (Tk 993 million), United Power (Tk 940 million), SK Trims & Industries (Tk 846 million) and Intech (Tk 805 million).

Monno Jute Stafflers was the week's best performer, posting a gain of 25.66 per cent while Kohinoor Chemicals was the biggest loser, shedding 22.84 per cent.

The port city's bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also ended marginally lower with its CSE All Share Price Index -- CASPI -- losing 102 points to settle at 16,182.

The Selective Categories Index -- CSCX -- also fell 65 points to close at 9,810.

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