Weekly analysis: Stocks end flat amid high turnover

Stocks finished almost flat last week that ended Thursday as investors booked some profits with cautious positioning.

Brokers said some investors preferred to take the approach while some others continued with profit taking sales ahead of earnings and dividend declarations.

"Natural correction as well as profit taking was vigilant throughout the week, taking the market in the flat zone," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.

The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of them, three sessions closed higher while last two ended lower.

Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 3.37 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 5,358.

"Selling of shares mostly from food & allied, banking and pharmaceutical sector stocks contributed to the fall of indices," said a leading broker.

The food & allied sector posted the highest loss of 2.94 per cent, followed by banking with 2.0 per cent and pharmaceutical 0.52 per cent.

He noted that some investors took position in the power, engineering, telecommunication, and financial institution issues anticipating positive earnings disclosure.

The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, also fell 19.68 points to finish at 1,906 points.

However, the DSE Shariah index advanced 6.06 points to end at 1,267.

According to EBL Securities, the market turnover went up sharply as optimistic investors showed buying appetite on lucrative price level of different stocks.

Total turnover on the DSE stood at Tk 48.50 billion, registering an increase of 58 per cent, from Tk 30.56 billion in the previous week, as last week saw five sessions instead of previous week's four.

The daily turnover averaged Tk 9.70 billion, which was 27 per cent higher than the previous week's average of Tk 7.64 billion.

"The average total turnover rose sharply as the bargain hunters took position on some stocks anticipating positive earnings declaration," commented International Leasing Securities.

The engineering sector dominated the turnover chart, grabbing 25 per cent of the week's total turnover, followed by textile with 19 per cent and pharmaceuticals 10 per cent.

The market capitalisation of the DSE inched higher by 0.12 per cent as it was Tk 3,864 billion on opening day of the week while it rose to Tk 3,868 billion on Thursday.

Of the traded issues, 171 closed higher, 148 ended lower and 25 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.

The newly listed Bashundhara Paper Mills was the week's most traded stock with 13 million shares worth Tk 2.14 billion changing hands.

The other turnover leaders were BBS Cables with Tk 1.59 billion, Ratanpur Steel Tk 1.52 billion, United Power Tk 1.39 billion and Singer Bangladesh Tk 937 million.

The Peninsula Chittagong was the week's best performer, posting a gain of 40.51 per cent last week while BD Autocars was the worst loser, losing 25.37 per cent.

However, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) finished slightly higher with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -advancing 9.0 points to settle at 16,513.

The Selective Categories Index - CSCX - also gained 11 points to close at 9,994.

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