Stocks tumble after 13 weeks

Stocks tumbled last week that ended on Thursday, snapping a 13-week winning spell, as worried investors booked quick-profit on large-cap stocks.
 Analysts said the market faced a major setback as investors sharply retorted to the monetary policy statement (MPS) which was unveiled on Sunday.
"Investors sitting on profit desperately sold the shares speculating a further correction in coming days following the central bank's concern over the recent bullish momentum in the capital market," said an analyst, seeking anonymity.
Effective surveillance is necessary so that the process of recovery from the bearish trend since 2010 remains under the regulator's control, the central bank said in its latest monetary policy statement.
"Otherwise, investors will seriously be affected like previous times," Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir said while announcing the monetary policy for the second half of the fiscal year.
The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of them, three sessions fell sharply while two closed marginally higher.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), plunged 253.51 points or 4.51 per cent to settle the week at 5,365.14, after gaining 21 per cent in the past 13 consecutive weeks.
LankaBangla Securities, a stockbroker, said, "The index is moving towards a support level of 5,330".
The stockbroker noted that the sharp fall in index was accompanied by decreased activity, with market turnover and trading volume decreasing by 45 per cent and 49 per cent respectively.
The two other indices also fell sharply. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, shed 81.58 points or 4.0 per cent to finish at 1,956.90. The DSE Shariah Index slumped 37.70 points or 2.92 per cent to close at 1,254.79.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also plunged with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, losing 485.33 points or 4.60 per cent to close at 10063.65.
"Sudden drop in turnover in the last few trading days indicates that investors were staying on the sidelines and observing the market movement carefully," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.
The total turnover for the week fell drastically to Tk 47.97 billion on the DSE, which was Tk 86.57 billion in the week before.
 The daily turnover averaged at Tk 9.59 billion, registering a decline of nearly 45 per cent over the previous week's average of Tk 17.31 billion.
The heavyweight banking sector led the turnover chart, capturing 18 per cent of the week's total turnover value, followed by engineering 15 per cent and pharmaceuticals 14 per cent.
City Bank Capital Resources, said, "This correction was triggered by the sale pressure of institutions for their month end adjustment".
"So the selling pressure intensified on continuous fall of large and mid-cap stocks, especially massive blow on bank and NBFIs and insurance sectors stocks," said the City Bank Resources.
International Leasing Securities, a stockbroker, said, "The week observed a substantial correction as the risk-averse investors opted to book profits from stocks witnessed substantial price surge".
Besides, some investors rebalanced their portfolio ahead of the financial sector's upcoming dividends. The investors followed 'wait-and-see' stance following the central bank's concern over the recent bullish momentum in the capital market, said the stockbroker.
All the major sectors faced sharp correction with massive blow on bank and NBFIs and fuel and power sectors stocks.
Five listed companies - Renata, BSRM Steels, BSRM, Prime Finance First Mutual Fund and GrameenPhone recommended dividend last week.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 330 issues traded, 281 closed lower, 44 closed higher and 5 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
The total market capitalisation of the DSE also fell 3.21 per cent last week as it was Tk 3,741.16 billion on the opening day of the week, while it stood at Tk 3,621.18 billion on closing day of the week.
Beximco dominated the week's turnover chart with 56.77 million shares of Tk 1.86 billion changing hands, followed by Islami Bank Tk 1.73 billion, Ratanpur Steel Re-rolling Mills Tk 1.38 billion, LankaBangla Finance Tk 1.24 billion and Baraka Power Tk 1.07 billion.
Rahim Textile Mills was the week's best performer, posting a 18.47 per cent gain, while ICB AMCL Second Mutual Fund was the worst loser, slumping by 19.15 per cent.
babulfexpress@gmail.com