Stocks slide for fourth straight week

Stocks extended the losing streak for a fourth straight week ending Thursday even though various market-supportive measures were put in place to halt the free-fall of the market.
This week saw five trading days as usual -- three sessions fell sharply while two others ended higher on the back of regulatory interventions.
The market witnessed a massive fall of 116 points on the first day of the week only to bounce back strongly the next day with a gain of 119 points riding on regulatory measures.
However, the market again returned to downtrend because of excessive selling pressure, prompting the regulator to reduce the lower circuit limit to 2.0 per cent from 5.0 per cent, which came into effect on Thursday.
Week on week, the benchmark DSEX index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 20.27 points or 0.32 per cent to settle at 6,238. The DSEX shed a total of 424 points in the past four weeks.
As the equities index plummeted 556 points in eight consecutive days as of Sunday, the first trading day of the week, hitting its 11-month low, the securities regulator and the finance minister took a number of initiatives to revamp the ailing market.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal asked the authorities concerned to extend the tenure and fund size of the capital market refinance scheme after a meeting with the central bank governor, finance secretary, and financial institutions division secretary on Sunday.
Also, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) raised the margin-loan ratio to 1:1, meaning investors would get a maximum of Tk 100 in loans against their investment of Tk 100 for any marginable company.
Later, the securities regulator also reduced the lower circuit limit and saved the market from a big fall, said a leading broker.
"Extended credit facilities for margin clients also eased the selling pressure in the market," he said.
Still, the general investors are yet to get back their confidence as uncertainty persists due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and instability on the global commodity market, said a merchant banker who declined to be named.
Besides, soaring inflation and further devaluation of local currency remained a major concern among investors, he said.
There are growing concerns about rising inflation which reduces the real income of the investors as well as the rising dollar value which decreases the value of the foreign investors' portfolio and shrinks the confidence of investors, said the International Leasing Securities.
The week's total turnover also dropped to Tk 30.54 billion on the prime bourse as against Tk 32.35 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged out at Tk 6.10 billion, down 24.49 per cent from the previous week's average of Tk 8.08 billion.
"Participation was sluggish during the week as investors are yet to regain confidence although the regulator tried to cheer up investors by declaring an extended credit facility," said EBL Securities.
Two other DSE indices also ended lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, shed 9.29 points to finish at 2,307 while the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 9.33 points to close at 1,373.
Major sectors witnessed mixed performances. The non-bank financial institutions booked the highest gain of 1.68 per cent, followed by life insurance (1.51 per cent) and power (0.44 per cent).
On the other hand, general insurance saw the highest loss of 4.79 per cent, followed by banking (1.54 per cent), engineering (0.70 per cent), pharma (0.55 per cent), telecom (0.54 per cent) and food (0.10 per cent).
Out of 387 issues traded, 195 declined, 161 advanced and 31 remained unchanged.
SEML Lecture Equity Mutual Fund was the week's top gainer, posting a 16.85 per cent gain, while Sonali Paper & Board Mills was the worst loser, shedding 24.98 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also fell with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) shedding 159 points to settle at 18,280 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) losing 98 points to close the week at 10,966.
Of the issues traded, 204 declined, 199 advanced and 20 issues remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port-city bourse traded 37.91 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 885 million.

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