Stocks keep losing amid confidence crisis

The stock market remained bearish for the third consecutive week on the bourses as panic-driven investors continued their selling spree, fearing further fall of shares prices.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 57.61 points or 1.28 per cent to settle at 4,456.
The DSEX has lost a cumulative 274 points in the past three straight weeks while it shed 1,494 points since January 24, this year, when the index peaked at 5,950.
The market capitalisation also eroded Tk 473 billion in the three straight weeks while it wiped off Tk 803 billion in the past eleven months, the DSE data shows.
Market operators said investors are struggling with ongoing depressed market trend while gloomy macroeconomic outlook, soaring non-performing loan and foreign investors' pulling funds out of the market worsened the situation.
A leading broker said dearth of quality stocks and liquidity crunch in the banking sector exacerbated the ongoing confidence crisis among investors.
He noted that continuing erosion in stock prices also reduced investment ability of the market intermediaries and high net worth investors.
The institutional investors could not play a supportive role amid liquidity crunch while some brokerage firms went for forced sales to minimise risks in margin loans, said analyst.
He said some opportunist investors revealed their buying interest in last session of the week riding on the news the government has sought opinions from the central bank and the securities regulator on a loan amount of Tk 100 billion sought by stock brokers to shore up the moribund market encouraged some investors.
He emphasised bringing good and reputed companies coupled with ensuring good governance for restoring the investors' confidence to the market.
EBL Securities said stocks continued to bleed as the panic-driven investors sustained their selling spree due to fears that the market would fall further.
International Leasing Securities said the nervy investors liquidated their holdings from major sectors, particularly from textile, pharma, power, telecom, financial institutions, bank and engineering sectors to escape from further losses.
The stockbroker noted that fall of large-cap stocks like Square Pharma, BATBC, Renata and Beximco Pharma played a major role behind the correction of the broad index.
Pharma sector suffered most, losing 2.21 per cent, followed by non-bank financial institutions with 1.98 per cent, engineering 1.95 per cent, power 1.83 per cent, food 1.80 per cent, telecom 1.21 per cent and banking 0.46 per cent.
The weekly total turnover on the prime bourse fell to Tk 11.18 billion, down from Tk 15.73 billion in the week before as last week saw four trading days instead of five.
The daily turnover averaged out at Tk 3.15 billion, down 32 per cent from the previous week's average of Tk 4.62 billion.
The outgoing week saw four trading days instead of five as the market closed on Monday due to Victory Day. Of them first three sessions closed lower while last session ended higher.
Two other indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 34.65 points to finish at 1,513 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 19.11 points to close at 997.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also plunged 1.19 per cent to Tk 3,396 billion on Thursday, from Tk 3,436 billion in the previous week.
Losers outnumbered the gainers, as out of 356 issues traded, 208 closed lower and 111 ended higher while 37 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor in the outgoing week.
The newly listed Ring Shine Textiles dominated the week's turnover chart with shares worth Tk 629 million changing hands during the week.
Karnaphuli Insurance was the week's best performer, posting a gain of 18.81 per cent while the Ring Shine Textiles was the worst loser, losing 18.67 per cent.
The port city's bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also kept losing, with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - falling 202 points to settle at 13,531 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - shedding 125 points to finish the week at 8,206.
Here too, the losers beat the gainers as 171 issues closed lower, 87 ended higher and 32 remained unchanged during the week
The port city bourse traded 30.45 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 658 million in turnover last week.

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