Dhaka stocks in tailspin for fifth straight week
Saturday, 8 November 2008
FE Report
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went into a tailspin for the fifth straight week that ended Thursday, on continuous selling pressure from the investors shaken by the persistent market slide.
The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) lost 300 points in five weeks.
The market continued to lose strength as the investors, having a little purchasing capacity, resorted to selling to avoid fresh losses and some merchant banks, the major market players, have allegedly forced their clients to adjust loans to protect their investments in a sluggish market, according to market insiders.
Being frustrated overall the freefall of the market, a group of investors staged a protest outside the DSE building in the second session of the week Monday.
A day after the protest, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held pre-scheduled meeting with the DSE, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) and merchant banks in the third session Tuesday, when the benchmark index saw a steep rise of 86.60 points on speculation that some positive steps would be taken in the meeting.
But the meeting failed to save the market from a deeper recession. "There are no logical ground behind the persistent downturn of the market other than panic selling and mental stress," a joint press briefing was told after the meeting.
During the week, the benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN), the All Shares Price Index (DSI) and the DSE-20 blue chip index - shed 81.44 points, 46.88 points and 66.92 points to close at 2667.16, 2305.03 and 2211.24 respectively.
Out of 291 issues, 47 advanced, 192 declined, seven remained unchanged and 45 were not traded in the week.
The daily average turnover dropped 18.22 per cent to Tk 2.14 billion against the previous week's Tk 2.62 billion. The DSE market capitalisation declined to Tk 964.29 billion from Tk 986.23 billion of the previous week.
"The outflow of funds continues as is reflected in the lower turnover. Moreover, most of the investors remained inactive, making the situation alarming," said a stockbroker.
He further said the continuous downtrend of the market has left the investors panicky as there are some causes of their concern including the possible impact of the global financial turmoil and possible fund withdrawal from the market to meet the expenses during the upcoming national election.
To bring stability in the market, the merchant banks should play a positive role and go for buying securities, a market analyst said.
Beximco Pharma continued to hold the turnover leader position with shares worth Tk 1.34 billion traded, accounting for about 12.45 per cent of the week's total market turnover at the prime bourse.
Beximco Limited, Titas Gas, ACI Limited, Beximco Limited, Uttara Bank, Islami Bank, Lankabangla Finance Company, Square Pharma, Summit Alliance Port Limited and National Tubes were the next other turnover leaders.
Of the top ten gainers, eight were from the Z-category, one each from the A and B categories.
In the week, Rahima Food was the top gainer posting 41.38 per cent rise, followed by Gulf Foods with 36.76 per cent, Dhaka Fisheries 26.24 per cent, Tulip Dairy and Food 20.49 per cent, Anlima Yarn 19.14 per cent, Mona Food 14.84 per cent and Gachihata Aquaculture 11.59 per cent.
Atlas Bangladesh, Usmania Glass, Bangladesh Luggage, United Insurance, Golden Son, Bangladesh Online, BEXIMCO, Apex Weaving, Metro Spinning and BD Thai Aluminum were the week's top losers.
The A-category issues accounted for 83.89 per cent of the total turnover in value during the week, while the B-category issues shared 1.11 per cent, N-category 11.52 per cent and Z-category 3.48 per cent.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went into a tailspin for the fifth straight week that ended Thursday, on continuous selling pressure from the investors shaken by the persistent market slide.
The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) lost 300 points in five weeks.
The market continued to lose strength as the investors, having a little purchasing capacity, resorted to selling to avoid fresh losses and some merchant banks, the major market players, have allegedly forced their clients to adjust loans to protect their investments in a sluggish market, according to market insiders.
Being frustrated overall the freefall of the market, a group of investors staged a protest outside the DSE building in the second session of the week Monday.
A day after the protest, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held pre-scheduled meeting with the DSE, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) and merchant banks in the third session Tuesday, when the benchmark index saw a steep rise of 86.60 points on speculation that some positive steps would be taken in the meeting.
But the meeting failed to save the market from a deeper recession. "There are no logical ground behind the persistent downturn of the market other than panic selling and mental stress," a joint press briefing was told after the meeting.
During the week, the benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN), the All Shares Price Index (DSI) and the DSE-20 blue chip index - shed 81.44 points, 46.88 points and 66.92 points to close at 2667.16, 2305.03 and 2211.24 respectively.
Out of 291 issues, 47 advanced, 192 declined, seven remained unchanged and 45 were not traded in the week.
The daily average turnover dropped 18.22 per cent to Tk 2.14 billion against the previous week's Tk 2.62 billion. The DSE market capitalisation declined to Tk 964.29 billion from Tk 986.23 billion of the previous week.
"The outflow of funds continues as is reflected in the lower turnover. Moreover, most of the investors remained inactive, making the situation alarming," said a stockbroker.
He further said the continuous downtrend of the market has left the investors panicky as there are some causes of their concern including the possible impact of the global financial turmoil and possible fund withdrawal from the market to meet the expenses during the upcoming national election.
To bring stability in the market, the merchant banks should play a positive role and go for buying securities, a market analyst said.
Beximco Pharma continued to hold the turnover leader position with shares worth Tk 1.34 billion traded, accounting for about 12.45 per cent of the week's total market turnover at the prime bourse.
Beximco Limited, Titas Gas, ACI Limited, Beximco Limited, Uttara Bank, Islami Bank, Lankabangla Finance Company, Square Pharma, Summit Alliance Port Limited and National Tubes were the next other turnover leaders.
Of the top ten gainers, eight were from the Z-category, one each from the A and B categories.
In the week, Rahima Food was the top gainer posting 41.38 per cent rise, followed by Gulf Foods with 36.76 per cent, Dhaka Fisheries 26.24 per cent, Tulip Dairy and Food 20.49 per cent, Anlima Yarn 19.14 per cent, Mona Food 14.84 per cent and Gachihata Aquaculture 11.59 per cent.
Atlas Bangladesh, Usmania Glass, Bangladesh Luggage, United Insurance, Golden Son, Bangladesh Online, BEXIMCO, Apex Weaving, Metro Spinning and BD Thai Aluminum were the week's top losers.
The A-category issues accounted for 83.89 per cent of the total turnover in value during the week, while the B-category issues shared 1.11 per cent, N-category 11.52 per cent and Z-category 3.48 per cent.