Stocks plummeted last week and key index of the prime bourse dipped below 5,100-mark as worries over political unrest dampened investors' sentiment.
"The investors were in selling spree throughout the week as the week-long countrywide strike following war crimes verdicts deteriorated investors' confidence," said an analyst.
The week featured four trading sessions instead of five as market was closed Tuesday due to Holy Ashura public holyday. Of them, first three sessions saw steep decline while the last one managed to close slightly higher.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended the week at 5,025.10 points, shedding 148.13 points or 2.86 per cent. It was the biggest single-week loss this year.
The two other indices also saw sharp decline. The DS30, comprising blue chips, index dropped steeply by 82.49 points or 4.23 per cent to close at 1,866.98 points. The DSE Shariah Index plunged 39.74 points or 3.26 per cent to close at 1,180.30 points.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw sharp decline last week with its Selective Categories Index-CSCX - slumped 258.46 points or 2.66 per cent to close at 9,442.81 points.
The week's total turnover, however, remained almost same despite last week saw one less trading session. The total turnover for the week stood at Tk 27.77 billion against Tk 27.67 billion the week before.
The daily turnover for the week averaged Tk 6.94 billion, registering an increase of 25.44 per cent over the previous week's average of Tk 5.53 billion.
Investors concentrated their position in engineering, power and pharmaceuticals - the sectors that accounted for 22.4 per cent, 20.3 per cent and 14.6 per cent respectively of the week's total value.
"Fear of political anarchy amid nation-wide strikes slashed market movements as well as investors' confidence," said IDLC Investments in an analysis.
The investors streamlined their portfolio allocation very carefully and pursued 'wait and see' approach, said the merchant bank.
LankaBangla Securities said: "The benchmark index, DSEX lost 148.13 points during the week as investors went selling frenzy amid weeklong countrywide strike".
"At the last trading session of the week index got support near 5,000-level which indicates investors' reluctance to sell stocks at this price level," said the stock broker.
"The main reason for this slide in price seemed to be the stale performance by most of the listed entities in July to September quarter"
Looking at the earnings figure one can infer that business environment in local market has not yet got its momentum, said the stock broker.
However, newly listed companies dominated throughout the week registering hefty returns.
Among the major sectors, cement lost 6.01 per cent while engineering sector registered astounding 8.01 per cent gain in market cap.
All the major sectors yield negative returns in the week. Telecommunication posted the highest loss of the week, going down by 5.95 per cent. Power and Pharmaceuticals retraced by 2.55 per cent and 2.75 per cent respectively.
In the financial sector - Banks and NBFIs - both closed in red, losing 2.14 per cent and 2.02 per cent respectively. Food and allied closed 0.81 per cent lower.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 313 issues traded, 218 declined, 75 advanced and 20 remained unchanged on DSE floor during the week.
Ten listed companies - Anwar Galvanizing, Daffodil Computers, Samata Leather, Prime Textile, Agni Systems, Fine Foods, National Tubes, Shahjibazar Power, Power Grid and Dulamia Cotton made corporate declaration last week.
The market capitalisation of the DSE went down by 2.24 per cent as it was Tk 3,398.76 billion on the opening day of the week and it stood at Tk 3,322.52 billion on closing day of the week.
The new issue -- Western Marine Shipyard dominated the week's top turnover chart with shares worth Tk 2.36 billion changing hands followed by Khulna Power Company, Keya Cosmetics, Saif Powertec and GP.
Anwar Galvanizing was also the week's top gainer, posting a rise of 30.42 per cent per cent while Fine Foods was the week's worst loser, slumping by 27.15 per cent.
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