DSEX down for third straight week, low caps rule market

Dhaka stocks continued bleeding for the third consecutive week through Thursday amid investors' confusions regarding the market direction.

DS30, the blue-chip index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), closed 0.39% lower at 2,209 points as Beacon Pharma, Shipping Corporation, and Meghna Petroleum shares faced price corrections, while increases in Delta Life, Islami Bank, Olympic Industries, Sea Pearl Beach Resorts, and Unique Hotel shares did not help the DS30 offset the impact.

Leaving 22 of the 30 blue-chip companies without any buyer at the floor prices, quick money-chasing investors rushed for a large number of small-cap scrips, including a number of junk stocks, which had been in decline over the past few months.

Last week, 91 scrips, mostly small-cap ones, advanced while 49 declined, and DSEX, the broad-based index of the premier bourse, managed to minimise its fall with 0.14%.

The most followed index fell below the psychological threshold of 6,200 in the middle of the week and closed at 6,206 on Thursday, thanks to the cabinet-approved draft bill to amend the Bank Company Act that excluded corporate bonds and debentures from banks' capital market exposure.

Also, the securities regulator's moves to allow injecting more funds through disbursing loans among market intermediaries and raising the mandatory market exposure of mutual funds to 80% from 60% helped increase some hope for market recovery.

Meanwhile, average daily turnover in the premier bourse increased by 16% to Tk410 crore last week as it crossed Tk666 crore on Thursday.

Stockbrokers said the last week of the January-March quarter was a period of investment portfolio adjustments among institutional investors, as some sold securities for cash while many also started buying some other shares eying better returns.

However, the market continued to frustrate the majority of investors as three out of every four scrips remained stuck at their floor prices, with no buyer interested in the artificially held price.

The top ten gainers' table last week was occupied, respectively, by Legacy Footwear, Intech Ltd, Samata Leather, Unique Hotel and Resorts, Miracle Industries, Gemini Sea Food, Tosrifa Industries, National Feed Mill, BD Autocars, and Apex Tannery, as their prices gained by 10-33% in four working days of the week.

Unique Hotel, Eastern Housing, Genex Infosys, Gemini Sea Food, Sea Pearl Beach Resorts, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, AND Telecom, Rupali Life Insurance, Rangpur Dairy, and Aamra Networks were the turnover leaders in the DSE last week.

Meanwhile, Shyampur Sugar, Sonali Paper, Sea Pearl, Zeal Bangla Sugar, Jute Spinners, Beacon Pharma, Prime Bank, Imam Button, One Bank, and Meghna PET were the top losers with 3-10% declines.