Stocks take breather after Bull Run

Stocks suffered a slight setback last week after steadily rising for straight four weeks as investors pocketed some profits.

"The market edged marginally lower last week as investors preferred profit booking almost throughout the week after gaining sharp in the last four weeks," said an analyst.

Last week featured four trading sessions as Sunday was public holiday due to Janmashtami. Of them, three sessions suffered loss while one session ended in the green.

DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), stayed above the so-called 'psychological' cut-off of 4,500 points for the last two weeks and closed at 4,547.06 points, shedding 7.45 points or 0.16 per cent from the week before.

However, the other two indices managed to close positive. The DS30, comprising blue chips, went up by 20.50 points or 1.20 per cent to close at 1,726.43 points. The DSE Shariah Index gained 1.27 points or 0.12 per cent to close at 1,061.71 points.

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended marginally lower with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - went down by 36.86 points or 0.43 per cent to close at 8,559.41 points.

The total turnover stood at Tk 26.32 billion, which was 21.69 per cent lower over the previous week's total turnover of Tk 33.61 billion. The total turnover declined as last week saw four trading sessions instead of the usual five.

The daily turnover for the week averaged Tk 6.58 billion, merely 2.12 per cent lower than the previous week's average of Tk 6.72 billion.

The investors' activity was mainly focused on fuel and power, pharmaceuticals, engineering and textile sectors, accounted for 15.02 per cent, 13.84 per cent, 12.43 per cent and 11.57 per cent respectively of the week's total turnover.

"Changing the ripple of last week, investors pursued somewhat cautious stance," commented IDLC Investments in its weekly market analysis.

"Natural correction and profit booking were observed after last few sessions' gain following Eid festival, resulting in frequent rebalancing by investors," the merchant bank said.

International Leasing Securities said that the market's recent rally suffered a slight setback as the investors realised some of their profits and waited for new opportunities.

"After four consecutive weeks of Bull Run, market took a breather during the week," observed LankaBangla Securities, in its weekly analysis.

Average daily turnover was Tk 6.58 billion, only 2.12 per cent lower than the previous week, indicating that the market hold on to its strength during this consolidation period.

"The sheer size of the volume proves that traders are only taking a pause following the recent upward move," said Zenith Investments.

The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 305 issues traded during the week, 241 declined, 52 advanced and 12 remained unchanged on DSE floor.

A total of 14 listed mutual funds made corporate declaration last week. The week was mainly dominated by cement sector which registered 6.29 per cent gain in market cap with 22 per cent increase in turnover.

Mutual fund sector was the worst performer last week which lost 13.85 per cent, mainly due to the post record date price fluctuations for corporate declaration. Among the top ten losers, seven came from the mutual fund sector.

Fuel and power sector advanced 1.62 per cent. Pharmaceuticals went up by 0.25 per cent while telecommunication plunged by 4.01 per cent. Banks and NBFIs retraced 2.02 per cent and 1.30 per cent respectively. Food and allied sector edged 0.79 per cent down.

The market capitalisation of the DSE went down slightly by 0.47 per cent as it was Tk 3,045.81 billion on the opening day of the week and it stood at Tk 3,031.53 billion on closing day of the week.

MJL Bangladesh dominated the week's top turnover chart for the second week in a row, with shares worth Tk 1.62 billion changing hands followed by Beximco, Kulna Printing and Packaging, Lafarge Surma Cement and GP.

BSRM Steels was the week's top gainer, posting a rise of 14.30 per cent while Green Delta Mutual Fund was the week's worst loser, plunging by 16.98 per cent.