Stocks continue falling as investor optimism subdued

The country’s premier bourse Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) remained downbeat for the third week in a row as investors continued offloading their holdings due to the absence of any potential outlook that the market could revive.

Besides, investors also continued rebalancing their portfolios in response to the ongoing quarterly earnings disclosures of listed companies.

The DSEX, the key index of the capital bourse, tumbled 37.10 points or 0.59 per cent to close the week at 6,246.

Among other indices, the DS30, the blue-chip index, fell 11.16 points to 2,224, and the DSES, the Shariah-based index, lost 5.27 points to 1,366.

Besides, the average turnover of the DSE decreased by 34.91 per cent to Tk 422 crore this week.

The IT sector topped the turnover chart, with a contribution of 13.81 per cent to the total turnover of the prime bourse.

Market insiders said the market remained downbeat this week because the sellers continued their dominance on the trading floor as they preferred to stay on the sidelines amid an unclear view of the market momentum.

Some of the recently rallied scrips also extended their corrections owing to profit-booking spree by cautious investors aiming to secure their short-term gains from the ailing market, they said.

Furthermore, according to market insiders, a recent report published by a global research firm expressing concerns about the liquidity crisis in the Bangladesh capital market has already dampened investor confidence.

The market performed five sessions this week, with the DSE started the week with a fall of 0.43 per cent on Sunday.

It, however, turned positive on Monday by advancing 0.24 per cent.

The market again turned negative on Tuesday and remained the same on Wednesday as well.

Finally, the market secured a gain of 0.02 per cent on Thursday.

According to market stakeholders, investors opted to stay on the sidelines until the market experiences a major trigger to regain a consistent positive momentum, as their investment appetite weakened due to the dismal financial performance of the majority listed companies.

The tannery and engineering sectors closed positive, while travel & leisure, services & real estate and general insurance sector faced corrections this week, UCB Stock Brokerage said in its weekly market review.

Out of the issues traded, 27 advanced, 151 declined, and 197 remained unchanged on the Dhaka bourse this week.

Al-Haj Textile Mills topped the gainer list by soaring 15 per cent this week, while ICB AMCL CMSF Golden Jubilee Mutual Fund was the week’s worst loser by losing 24 per cent.

All the financial sectors registered negative performance this week.

Of them, the general insurance faced the highest loss of 3.73 per cent, followed by mutual fund (2.55 per cent), life insurance (1.54 per cent), NBFI (0.13 per cent), and bank (0.10 per cent).

The non-financial sectors posted mixed performance this week, with the telecommunication posting the highest gain of 0.10 per cent, followed by engineering (0.10 per cent).

On the other hand, the pharmaceutical experienced the highest loss of 0.61 per cent, followed by food & allied (0.32 per cent).

The port city stock exchange Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also closed lower this week, with prime index CSCX falling by 0.58 per cent to 11046.

Out of the issues traded, 29 advanced, 98 declined, and 106 remained unchanged on the CSE for the week.