Banking sector faces major correction

FE Report
Most sectors ended lower last week that ended Thursday with heavyweight banking sector facing major correction as cautious investors were mostly on selling binge.
Of the 19 sectors listed with the prime bourse, except corporate bonds, debenture and treasury bonds, the market cap of 14 sectors closed lower while five managed to stay green, according to weekly analysis of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and LankaBangla Securities.
Among the major sectors, the heavyweight banking sector witnessed the major correction of 2.85 per cent as prices of 26 banks closed lower, out of 30 listed banks.
"Ahead of the monetary policy announcement for second half of fiscal year (FY) 2017-2018, many investors followed cautious stance and are waiting for getting clear direction of the market," said an analyst.
Of the banks, The City Bank witnessed the highest correction of 6.60 per cent, followed by Eastern Bank with 6.0 per cent, Rupali Bank 5.50 per cent, Uttara Bank 5.20 per cent, Standard Bank 5.10 per cent, Prime Bank 4.80 per cent, AB Bank 4.40 per cent and Brac Bank 3.80 per cent.
Cement sector also lost 3.27 per cent as large-cap issues of the sector closed lower with Lafarge Surma Cement posted the highest loss of 4.80 per cent. Confidence Cement, Heidelberg Cement, MI Cement and Premier Cement also lost 3.10 per cent, 1.60 per cent, 1.10 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.
The non-bank financial institutions (NBFI) faced 2.73 per cent correction as 20 issues of the sector posted negative return, out of 23.
Of the NBFI issues, Union Capital was the biggest loser, plunging by 6.40 per cent, followed by LankaBangla Finance with 4.70 per cent, IDLC Finance 4.30 per cent, National Housing Finance 4.10 per cent, Premier Leasing 4.0 per cent, FAS Finance 3.90 per cent, GSP Finance 3.70 per cent, International Leasing 1.50 per cent and DBH 3.40 per cent.
The engineering sector also lost 2.19 per cent as share prices of 31 issues of the sector closed lower, out of 36.
Of the engineering sector issues, newly listed Oimex Electrode was the highest loser, losing 9.10 per cent, closely followed by Nahee Aluminum with 9.0 per cent, National Tubes 8.50 per cent, Deshgarment 7.70 per cent, Western Marine Shipyard 5.40 per cent, Yeakin Polymer 3.60 per cent, BD Thai Aluminium 3.20 per cent, BSRM 1.90 per cent And BSRM Steels 1.20 per cent.
On the other hand, Pharmaceuticals, paper & printing, telecommunication, tannery and jute sectors managed to end marginally higher, gaining 2.83 per cent, 1.51 per cent, 1.39 per cent, 0.30 per cent and 0.20 per cent respectively.
The heavyweight telecommunication sector, which comprised two issues - Grameenphone (GP) and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company (BSCCL), gained 1.39 per cent gain as prices of largest market cap GP's share price advanced 2.0 per cent to close at 483.30 on Thursday, the last trading day of the week.
However, share price of BSCCL fell 4.0 per cent to close at Tk 103.90 Thursday at the premier bourse.
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