Special Correspondent
The key index, DSEX, closed with a bullish nod last week. The index decreased by 1.30% at the end of the week.
Majority sectors were in a green territory. Certain investors are taking a cautious approach, focusing on sector-specific stocks in anticipation of upcoming disclosures.
The capital bourse saw a modest recovery as easing inflation and declining Treasury yields spurred bargain hunters to take positions in lucrative scrips amid expectations for a slight reversal from the market's prolonged bearish sentiment, according to EBL Securities' weekly review.
Moreover, better-than-expected earnings disclosure of sector-specific scrips has also somewhat invigorated the market from its weakened momentum.
Additionally, investors' buying interest in certain December-closing scrips, including the bank stocks, ahead of their upcoming corporate declarations also contributed to the market's sustained upbeat vibe throughout the week, it said.
The market performed five sessions during this week. The market remained positive for the entire week, as on Sunday (+0.26%), Monday (+0.38%), Tuesday (+0.03%), Wednesday (+0.44%), and Thursday (+0.18%).
Most of the financial sectors posted positive performance this week. NBFI booked the highest gain of 4.90%, followed by Life Insurance (+3.89%), Mutual Fund (+1.90%), Bank (+1.34%) and General Insurance (-0.35%).
Most of the non-financial (large-cap) sectors also posted positive performance this week. Fuel & Power booked the highest gain of 1.69%, followed by Engineering (+1.29%), Pharmaceutical (+0.81%), Telecommunication (+0.76%) and Food & Allied (-0.58%).
DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, gained 66.3 points, or 1.3%, to settle at 5,179 points. Investors participation in the market also increased by 25.8% to Tk426 crore as against Tk 339 crore in the previous week. Investors were mostly active in the bank sector (14.9%), followed by the textile sector (14.2%) and Pharma sector (13.3%). Most of the sectors ended in green, with the Financial Institutions sector (4.9%) being the highest gainer.
This selective investment strategy reflects a wait-and-see sentiment in the market. Consequently, overall turnover saw a 25.84% increase. Over the week, 12 sectors were gainers, in which Financial Ins., Service & Ceramics were in the top position. On the other side, 6 sectors were losers, where Eng. Jute and Tannery were the top losers.
According to the Royal Capital, this week, the most popular scrip was BEACHHATCH based on price & turnover growth, while the top gainer was EPGL and the top loser was RENWICKJA.
As BSEC is working relentlessly to support the liquidity of the market, the investors who are in wait-and-see mode should engage themselves more by participating continuously in the market to take it to a new level. All considered, the market may go somewhat bullish with lower trading activities for the upcoming week.