The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) closed the week on a flat note as cautious investor sentiment prevailed due to ongoing earnings declarations of July and reforms within regulatory bodies.
The benchmark DSEX index dipped slightly, losing 2.1 points to settle at 5,727. Market participation saw a sharp decline of 19.3 per cent, with the weekly turnover dropping to Tk 644 crore compared to Tk 798 crore recorded in the previous week. While the blue-chip DS30 index fell by 13.61 points to 2,100.75, the Shariah-based DSES index gained 16.87 points, closing at 1,245.68.
During the week, the market executed five trading sessions starting on a negative note by 0.86 per cent on Sunday. Stocks remained negative till Monday by 0.88 per cent but bounced back to positive on Tuesday by 1.30 per cent. The market remained positive throughout the week as on Wednesday, by 0.20 per cent, and on Thursday by 0.22 per cent.
Investors focused primarily on the pharmaceutical sector, which accounted for 18.5 per cent of market activity, followed by the banking sector at 17.6 per cent and the fuel & power sector at 10.3 per cent. Sector performance was mixed, with the jute sector emerging as the top gainer with a 16.9 per cent rise, while the services sector saw the biggest drop, losing 5 per cent.
The market initiated the week on a negative note as investors opted to trim their exposures due to dwindling confidence, according to EBL Securities' weekly review.
However, bargain hunters stepped in to pull up the benchmark index by taking positions on specific scrips after corrections to secure short-term gains, where the formation of a task force to reform the banking sector, marginal decline in inflation, and continued strong remittance inflows, also worked as positive catalysts to restore the confidence, the review added.
Thursday’s market
On the day, the DSEX closed at 5726, slightly increased by 12.56 points at mostly buyers’ dominance in particularly low-cap scrips.
Investors were taking positions in junks throughout the day and Thursday’s buoyant market created some hope of continuation of the bullish episodes.
Apart from the story of indices, trades went modestly higher than that of the previous day by Tk 108 crore at a total of Tk 733 crore.
With the traders waiting for the volume breakouts while nine sectors out of 19 were the gainers and 10 were on the losing side, 158 scrips advanced out of the 398 traded, 181 declined and 58 remained unchanged on DSE trading floor.
LINDEBD topped the turnover chart. RNSPIN was the top gainer, whereas CONFIDCEM was the worst sufferer. One stock was traded at its floor price.
In the block market, shares worth Tk 54.7 crore were transacted, representing a turnover of 7.47 per cent.
The SME index, DSMEX, increased by 7.93 points, and the market generated a Tk 14.7 crore turnover, a 184 per cent rise when compared with the previous session.
According to the Royal Capital Financial Portal, ISLAMIBANK and SQURPHARMA contributed the most to the gains and the losses of the DSEX on the day and bullish conditions prevailed in the market from the start.
Meanwhile, at the port city’s bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) settled on red terrain with its selected indices, the CSCX, and the All-Share-Price index, the CASPI, declined by 14.6 and 21.9 points, respectively.
