Special Correspondent
The key index, DSEX, of the Dhaka bourse settled into losing territory this week as investors preferred to realise their short-term gains and stay on the sidelines amid lackluster market momentum during the Ramadan season.
The benchmark index DSEX lost 43.34 points and closed the week at 5,203.96 points. The blue-chip index DS30 (-0.83%) lost 15.87 points and stood at 1,889.68 points. The Shariah-based index DSES (-0.52%) lost 6.11 points and stood at 1,160.89 points.
Investors participation in the market also declined by 30.0% to Tk 3,627 million as against Tk 5,181 million in the previous week.
Investors were mostly active in the pharma sector (15.4%), followed by the textile sector (14.6%) and the engineering sector (10.3%). All the sectors, except Fuel & Power (0.6%), ended in red, with the Paper sector (4.6%) being the biggest loser.
The market performed five sessions during this week. The market started negatively on Sunday (-0.20%) and remained negative throughout Monday (-0.31%) and Tuesday (-0.51%) but showed positive performance on Wednesday (+0.05%) and remained positive on Thursday (+0.14%).
The market witnessed a selling spree for three consecutive sessions from the beginning of the week as investors offloaded their recently appreciated holdings, according to EBL Securities' weekly review.
However, bargain hunters emerged in the later part of the week to capitalize on the recent corrections, easing the selling pressure to some extent on the trading floor. Majority sectors were in a red territory. Investors were not confident enough to invest in the market since some chaos was observed in the regulation authority.
Over the week, 8 sectors were gainers, in which Telecom, Travel & Fuel, and Power were in the top position. On the other side, 10 sectors were losers, where jute, IT, and textiles were the top losers.
This week, the most popular scrip was SPCERAMICS based on price & turnover growth, while the top gainer was ICB and the top loser was HRTEX.
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 remain dry for the upcoming week.