Turnover posts sharp fall ahead of polls

FE Team | Published: December 20, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
Stocks of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) edged down with a sharp fall in the turnover last week that ended Thursday after witnessing an upward trend in the previous week. However, the market showed some signs of recovery during the last trading session on Thursday.
The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) shed 26.64 points to close at 2518.02 on low turnover posting a fall of 27.30 per cent during the week.
The prime bourse of the country saw four trading days instead of five because of the holiday on Tuesday on the occasion of Victory Day. Trading at DSE resumed Sunday last after a nine-day recess on the occasion of the Eid-ul-Azha festival as well as other holidays.
Out of 293 issues traded, 69 advanced, 167 declined, seven remained unchanged and 50 were not traded in the week. The daily average turnover, however, in the week came down to Tk 1.33 billion from the previous week's Tk 1.84 billion.
According to the market brokers, most of the investors, including the institutional ones chose to stay cautious ahead of the national election scheduled for December 29 next, affecting the market throughout the week.
"The year-end loan adjustment by the financial institutions which is equivalent to over 50 per cent of the total market capitalisation is also one of the factors behind the sluggish market," said a broker.
In the last session of the week Thursday, however, the prevailing affable condition of the market following lifting of the state of emergency and the prevailing election atmosphere have infused a bit confidence into the minds of investors, whose confidence was earlier shattered by the bearish spell over the couple of months.
"If everything goes well, the market will get back its pulse from early next year when the institutional investors will also be able to inject fresh funds into the market after the loan adjustment period,' said a merchant banker.
On December 17, the caretaker government lifted the state of emergency, imposed on January 11 last year in the wake of a political turmoil.
Two other market barometers -the All Shares Price Index (DSI) and the DSE-20 blue chip index-shed 19.80 points and 49.30 points to finish at 2,083.99 and 2,082.37 respectively.
The DSE market capitalisation decreased to Tk 964.75 billion from Tk 971.60 of the previous week.
Summit Power was the top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 501.92 million traded and accounted for about 9.39 per cent of the week's total market turnover of Tk 5.34 billion at the prime bourse.