Special Correspondent : The key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) lost 124.7 points, or 2.4%, to settle at 4,973 points in the last week.
This has plummeted for a second consecutive week, marking this year's biggest single-week fall. Also, the key index dips below the psychological threshold of the 5,000 mark after 6 months, as investors' growing skepticism over the lack of clear indication regarding the unsettled concerns pervading the trading floor deepens the market's free fall for another week.
Investors participation in the market also declined further by 13.9% to Tk 3,436 million as against Tk 3,990 million in the previous week. Investors were mostly active in the bank sector (13.5%), followed by the food sector (11.8%) and the fuel & power sector (10.7%).
All the sectors, except Fuel & Power (0.7%), ended in the red, with the IT sector (-9.4%) being the biggest loser.
The blue-chip index DS30 (-1.62%) lost 30.39 points and stood at 1,845.01 points. The Shariah-based index DSES (-3.41%) lost 39.01 points and stood at 1,104.70 points. The large-cap index CDSET (-1.08%) lost 11.21 points and closed at 1,022.84 points.
The market performed five sessions during this week and was negative throughout the entire week. The market started negatively on Sunday (-0.45%) and remained negative throughout Monday (-0.58%), Tuesday (-0.36%), and Wednesday (-0.08%) and ended the week in the negative on Thursday (-0.99%).
The benchmark index of the capital bourse plunged further this week, dipping below the psychological threshold of the 5,000 mark after 6 months, as investors' growing skepticism over the lack of clear indication regarding the unsettled concerns pervading the trading floor deepens the market's free fall for another week, according to EBL Securities' weekly review.
The prolonged downturn prompted investors to shy away from taking positions in equities, while losses continued to mount on their portfolios as the distressed market lacked any major catalyst to revive investor confidence, it said.
Although the regulator came up with the removal of the investment limit for ICB in A-category stocks, along with assurance of addressing the negative equity problem in the industry, the initiatives fell short of providing any sort of cushion to the ailing market as the relentless bearish spell gripped the market throughout the week, EBL Securities said.