Stocks persistently in red

Dhaka stocks slumped for a fifth week amid continuous selling pressure from investors with the benchmark index of the bourse losing around 300 points.
On week-on-week basis, the DSE General Index slid 81.44 points, or 2.96 percent to 2,667.16 points, while the DSE All Share Price Index dropped 66.92 points, or 2.94 percent to 2,211.24 points.
Market insiders said retail investors in some brokerage houses had been pressed into selling off shares in their holdings even at a loss. The investors, who trade in the brokerage houses, had been advised to sell their shares on the plea that the downtrend in the market would persist for a long time.
The brokerage houses also sold out a huge volume of shares from their portfolios last week, as the merchant banks did a week back.
Such market-unfriendly behaviour by these houses had not only prompted other retail investors from the fellow-houses to resort to such sell-off, but also discouraged to go for fresh investment, according to the market insiders.
An analyst pointed out that dependency on borrowing had led to the present downtrend of the market.
“When lenders create pressure on investors to adjust loans, the market goes down,” he said.
Being shaken by the persistent market slide, a group of investors staged demonstration in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Monday.
The following day the Securities and Exchange Commission had a parley with the merchant bankers and authorities of Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchange. The benchmark index saw a steep rise of 86.6 points on expectations of positive news on that day.
But the market started declining once again the next day, as no positive steps were taken in the meeting regarding the freefall in the market, despite a note of optimism was voiced by the three parties at a post-parley press briefing that they did not find any logic behind the persistent downturn of the market. The investors were also advised not to be panicky.
Both the total and daily average turnover fell last week by 18.22 percent. The total turnover on the DSE was Tk 1,072.48 crore against Tk 1,311.39 crore the previous week, while the daily average turnover was Tk 214.49 crore against Tk 262.27 crore.
Most of the securities traded throughout the week marked a decline. Of the 246 traded issues, only 47 advanced, 192 declined and seven remained unchanged.
A total of 6,92,62,541 shares were transacted last week against 8,46,42,877 shares the previous week.
The total market capitalisation declined by 2.22 percent to Tk 96,429.77 crore from Tk 98,623.75 crore the previous week.
Beximco Pharma continued to top the turnover leaders with 82,98,200 traded shares worth Tk 133.50 crore, which accounted for 12.45 percent of the week's total market turnover on the premier bourse.
The other turnover leaders were Beximco, Titas Gas, ACI, Uttara Bank, Islami Bank, LankaBangla Finance, Square Pharma, Summit Alliance Port and National Tubes.
Chittagong stocks also declined. The CSE Selective Categories Index fell by 0.06 percent to 5,330.59 points, while the CSE All Share Price Index dropped by 0.27 points to 8,211.33 points.
A total of 1,67,09,566 shares worth Tk 185.41 crore changed hands on Chittagong Stock Exchange last week against previous week's 2,06,59,182 shares worth Tk 200.61 crore.
Of the 167 traded issues on the port city bourse, 56 advanced, 101 declined and nine remained unchanged.
Beximco Pharma topped the turnover leaders on the CSE with 18,98,406 traded shares worth Tk 30.48 crore. The other turnover leaders were Beximco, Titas Gas, AB Bank, Bextex, AIMS First Mutual Fund, Grameen Mutual Fund One: Scheme Two, LankaBangla Finance, Summit Power and Islami Bank.