Investors on the Dhaka Stock Exchange decreased their activity in the past week, as the market momentum has remained bearish for long amid the ongoing economic worries in the country, market operators said.
The weekly turnover on the DSE witnessed a dive, by 24.61 per cent, to Tk 1,950.74 crore in the past week compared with that of Tk 2,070.02 crore in the previous week.
The Dhaka bourse has witnessed decreased participation of investors for the third consecutive week amid the ongoing market volatility and the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims.
DSEX, the key index of the DSE, lost 60.44 points, or 1.14 per cent over the past week to close at 5,251.96 points, after losing 205.02 points in the previous week.
In the past 15 weeks, the market moved forward in only three weeks.
Market operators said that the increasing economic concerns, including the ongoing reduction in foreign exchange reserves in the country had left a negative impression on investors.
The foreign investment in the capital market of the country halved in the past wtwo years, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.
Market operators said that force selling was a major factor contributing to the continuous decline in share prices.
Forced selling or forced liquidation usually entails the involuntary sales of assets or securities to create liquidity.
The news of National Board of Revenue’s possible move on imposing capital gain tax on individual investors further contributed to the negative vibe, market operators said.
Market operators mentioned that investor confidence was further hit by the Bangladesh Bank’s decision to raise repo rates, which could result in higher interest rates in the money market and eventually would prompt investors to shift funds to banks.
The devaluation of the taka against the US dollar might add to the depressed state of the market, they added.
They also said that multiple other factors were working behind the prolonged bearish trend of stocks, such as lack of investor confidence amid economic woes in the country and global geopolitical tensions, liquidity crisis in banks and sudden change of policies.
Out of the 390 issues traded in the past week, 115 advanced, 248 declined and 27 remained unchanged in the past week.
Investors were mostly active in pharmaceutical scrips, followed by textile and food shares.
EBL Securities in its weekly market commentary said that market sentiment was yet to rebound due to the absence of any major positive triggers, which led the market to witness lacklustre momentum throughout the week.
The DSE Shariah index decreased by 15.84 points, or 1.37 per cent, to close at 1,143.70 points in the past week.
The DS30 index lost 32.86 points, or 1.72 per cent, to finish at 1,874.84 points.
Alif Industries topped the average weekly turnover chart with shares worth Tk 16.25 crore daily changing hands.
IFIC Bank, Orion Pharma, Meghna Petroleum, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, Unilever Consumer Care, Rupali Life Insurance, Reliance One the first scheme of Reliance Insurance Mutual Fund, Orion Infusion, and Asiatic Laboratories were the other turnover leaders.