Stocks break three-week winning streak

Stocks witnessed mild correction last week that ended Thursday, breaking a three-week gaining streak, as risk-averse investors booked profit from quick gaining bank stocks.
Market insiders said stocks posted meager correction as investors were mostly cautious while some sold shares to bag profit on stocks that saw significant rise in recent upsurge amid ongoing dividend declaration session.
"A modest pullback by the market offset the recent rally due to profit taking on bank, cement, insurance, textile and food and allied issues," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.
Despite the bank sector faced correction of 1.11 per cent, it kept dominance in turnover chart, capturing 27 per cent of the week's total turnover value, largely supported by City Bank.
The City Bank topped the week's turnover chart with 47.44 million shares of Tk 1.93 billion changing hands as investors grabbed its shares following the news that the Bangladesh Bank (BB) allowed the bank to sell 5.0 per cent of its shares to the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
After more than one year after a deal was signed, the central bank finally allowed City Bank to sell 5.0 per cent of its shares to the IFC last week.
The week featured four trading sessions as March 26 was public holiday due to the Independence Day. Of them, three sessions closed lower, while one saw marginal gain.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 6.62 points or 0.12 per cent to finish the week at 5,719.61.
City Bank Capital Resources, a merchant bank, said, "The correction was triggered by slow participation and pursuance of January-March quarter-end profit booking by the institutional investors that made some selling spree on market".
However, the two other indices managed to close green. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 14.09 points or 0.68 per cent to settle at 2,090.76. The DSE Shariah Index rose 2.24 points or 0.17 per cent to close at 1,303.72.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also finished marginally lower with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, falling 4.0 points or 0.04 per cent to close at 10,754.
The total turnover for the week came down to Tk 37.25 billion, which was nearly 35 per cent lower than the previous week's Tk 56.93 billion as last week saw four trading sessions instead of previous week's five.
Accordingly, the daily turnover averaged at Tk 9.31 billion, which was more than 18 per cent lower than the previous week's average of Tk 11.39 billion.
"The bearish sentiment also reflected on trading activities as turnover fell significantly," said the City Bank Capital Resources.
EBL Securities, a stockbroker, said, "The market witnessed correction as investors started to shift their position mainly from the banking sector to other sectors".
"The market finished the week almost flat note as the shaky investors adopted 'wait-and-see' approach on the ongoing slow market movement," said International Leasing Securities, a stockbroker, in an analysis.  
The stockbroker noted that the market observed see-saw movements almost throughout the week as the investors were active from both sides of the trading fence.
"Several issues from telecom, financial institution and engineering sectors enjoyed buoyancy while selling of shares was observed mostly from IT, miscellaneous, textile sector and bank," said the stockbroker.
Three listed companies - Premier Leasing, Al-Arafa Islami Bank and Asia Pacific General Insurance recommended dividend last week for the year ended on December 31, 2016.
Premier Leasing recommended 5.0 per cent cash and 5.0 per cent stock dividend, Al-Arafa Bank recommended 20 per cent cash dividend and Asia Pacific Insurance recommended 10 per cent cash dividend.
Out of 332 issues traded, 84 closed higher, 225 closed lower and 23 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
The total market capitalisation of the DSE, however, advanced 0.45 per cent last week as it was Tk 3,781 billion on the opening day of the week, while it stood at Tk 3,798 billion on closing day of the week.
City Bank dominated the DSE turnover chart for the second week in a row with 47.44 million shares of Tk 1.93 billion changing hands, followed by LankaBangla Finance, AB Bank, Beximco and Beximco Pharmaceuticals.
Delta Brac Housing Finance and Investment was the week's highest gainer, posting a 12.67 per cent gain, while Fareast Finance was the worst loser, slumping by 12.18 per cent.
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