Stocks close flat amid cautious stance

Babul Barman | Published: February 23, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The market ended flat last week that ended Thursday after previous week's correction with turnover dropped significantly as investors remained cautious to make fresh investments into stocks.
It was the first week after new boards took charge of demutualised stock exchanges --- Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Exchange (CSE).
The week featured all five trading sessions and lost first three while the market recovered on the following two sessions.
Week-on-week, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) --- DSEX --- went up slightly by 1.85 points or 0.04 per cent to close the week at 4,761.18 points.
However, the other two indices retraced during the week. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips lost 8.63 points or 0.51 per cent to close at 1,688.03 points The Shariah Index (DSES) dropped 0.47 points or 0.05 per cent to close the week at 995.28 points.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) ended marginally lower, with its Selective Categories Index --- CSCX --- lost 20.31 points or 0.21 per cent to close the week at 9,341.69 points.
Market participation at DSE remained sluggish during the week. The total market turnover for the week stood at Tk 18.65 billion which was Tk 28.96 billion in the previous week.
The average daily turnover came down to Tk 3.73 billion, registering 35.6 per cent decline over the previous week's average Tk 5.79 billion.
Market level correction as well as volatility prompted investors to be somewhat meticulous, initially of the week," said IDLC Investments, in its weekly market analysis.
However, a sum of 174 points market correction in last eight sessions, offered investors a significant price advantage. Abetted by this, later part of the week showcased investors' intension to be in a buying mood, the merchant bank observed.
Besides, lucrative price to net asset value attracted investors to be positioned safe with Mutual Funds. These assisted in breaking bearish spell with surfaced optimism to create a natural re-bounce in fourth session of the week, the merchant bank said.
LankaBangla Securities said, "This week started in a bearish mood and sellers were very dominant and selling pressure continued till Tuesday. Along with market, turnover was also falling rapidly. Buyers knocked out sellers on Wednesday and market healed all its lost points in last two trading days of the week."
Foreign exchange reserve hit USD 19 billion on Wednesday. This is indicating that monetary situation will stay favourable in coming days, the stock broker said.
Â "As banking system is already filled with around Tk 900 billion excess liquidity and it is only growing, we can expect asset prices to get a boost," the stock broker said.
In next few weeks, lots of December year ending companies will be declaring corporate declarations for the year ended 2013. These earnings and dividend declarations will have an impact on market direction, the stock broker observed.
Â "After passing prolonged bearish sessions, market bounced back strongly with 89 points gain in last two sessions of current week. Average investors' participation, however, declined by 35.6 per cent this week," commented International Leasing Securities, in its weekly market analysis.
Point to point comparison showed that, DSEX remained flat with 1.85 points gain while DSES and DS30 reported 0.47 points and 8.63 points loss respectively. It is notable that, in this week new boards took charge of demutualized stock exchanges, the International Leasing Securities said.
The gainers took a modest lead over the losers as out of 299 issues traded during the week, 158 advanced, 119 declined and 22 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Among the major sectors, food & allied gained the most, going up by 1.81 per cent. NBFIs and Banks advanced 1.20 per cent and 0.64 per cent respectively. Telecommunications went up marginally by 0.53 per cent. Pharmaceuticals and fuel & power lost 1.37 per cent and 0.90 per cent respectively.
Fuel & power and pharmaceuticals had leading position in turnover for the third consecutive weeks, capturing 14.34 per cent and 14.24 per cent of week's total value.
Two listed companies - LankaBangla Finance and Prime Insurance made corporate declaration in this week. LankaBangla Finance recommended 15 per cent cash and 5 per cent stock while Prime Insurance 15 per cent stock dividend for their investors.
The market capitalisation of the DSE went up slightly by 0.10 per cent as it was Tk 2,899.33 billion at the opening day of the week and it stood at Tk 2,902.35 billion in closing day of the week.
Square Pharma dominated the week's top turnover chart for the second consecutive week with shares worth Tk 979.27 million changing hands during followed by BSCCL, Olympic, Meghna Petroleum and Delta Life Insurance.
AFC Agro Biotech was the week's top gainer, posting a rise of 18.88 per cent while Green Delta Insurance was the week's worst losers, slumping by 18.30 per cent.