Weekly market review: Stocks bleed amid confidence crisis

The stock market plummeted for the third week in a row to Thursday, with turnover value shrinking as investors remained reluctant to put fresh bets on stocks amid ongoing volatile market condition.

The market has been in bear grip for more than a year since the stock market regulator imposed the floor price. Buyers have shown reluctance to buy stocks even at the lowest price set.

The investors were not confident enough about injecting fresh funds into stocks amid a dismal market outlook, said a leading broker.

He said the investors mostly focused on short-term bets as the prolonged volatility and weakened strength of the market have dampened their confidence.

Of the five trading days this week, three sessions suffered losses while the two others posted moderate gains.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, finally settled the week 32.61 points lower at 6,297.25. The DSEX lost nearly 65 points in the past three straight weeks.

The DS30 Index, which comprises blue-chip companies, plunged more than 9 points to 2,143 while the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, shed almost 5 points to 1,368.

Stocks extended its pessimistic run for three straight weeks owing to depressed market sentiment and shaky investor confidence stemming from the prevailing macroeconomic and political concerns, said EBL Securities, in its weekly market analysis.

The stockbroker noted that the risk-averse investors continued their selling spree in order to safeguard their funds from the ailing market, and thus sellers ended up in the dominant position this week, causing the market to remain stuck in negative territory.

Turnover, a crucial market indicator, also slumped to Tk 20.17 billion, down from Tk 29.64 billion in the week before.

The average daily turnover stood at Tk 4.14 billion in the outgoing week, a 30 per cent decrease, compared to Tk 5.92 billion in the week before.

Investors were mostly active in the food sector, capturing 17 per cent of the week's total turnover, followed by miscellaneous sector (12 per cent) and general insurance (11.5 per cent).

Most of the traded stocks saw price erosion, as out of 385 issues traded, 144 ended lower, 35 higher and 206 issues remained unchanged during the week on the DSE trading floor.

Small-cap companies dominated the weekly turnover chart with Khan Brother PP Woven Bag Industries was the most-traded stocks with shares worth Tk 1.04 billion changing hands, followed by Fu-Wang Food, Sonali Paper, Sea Pearl Beach and Alif Industries.

Ambee Pharma, another low-cap company, was the week's top gainer, registering an increase of 20 per cent while Deshbandhu Polymer was the worst loser, losing 20.5 per cent.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower, with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) shedding 90 points to settle at 18,599 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) falling 53 points to close at 11,119.

Of the issues traded, 122 declined, 28 advanced and 110 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city's bourse traded 10.29 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value worth Tk 331 million.

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