The country’s chief capital market, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), experienced a broad-based downturn over the five trading sessions of the past week, driven by price corrections across most operating sectors and persistent selling pressure on major blue-chip equities.
Market analysis reveals that DSEX, the benchmark broad index of the DSE, declined by 24 points or 0.44 percent to close the week at 5,452 points, down from 5,476 points recorded at the end of the preceding week.
Similarly, the DS-30 index comprising blue-chip equities dropped 9 points to settle at 2,097 points compared to 2,106 points in the prior week.
The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) also shed 9 points to close at 1,078 points, down from 1,087 points previously.
A total of 385 issues, including corporate equities, mutual funds, and corporate bonds, were traded on the DSE floor during the week.
Among them, prices of 120 issues advanced, 223 issues declined, 39 remained unchanged, while 28 issues saw no trading activity.
Large-cap stocks specifically Al-Arafah Islami Bank, British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATBC), Grameenphone, Sharp Industries, and Islami Bank Bangladesh exerted the heaviest downward drag on the primary index.
In terms of sectoral turnover, the textile sector dominated weekly trading activity, capturing 24.3 percent of total turnover on the DSE floor.
The general insurance sector secured the second position with an 11.4 percent share, followed by the engineering sector at 9.5 percent.
The pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector ranked fourth, accounting for 8.8 percent of weekly turnover, while the banking sector held fifth place with a 7.4 percent share.
Sectoral return analysis indicates that non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) suffered the highest loss, generating a negative return of 3.1 percent.
The ceramics sector posted a negative return of 2.4 percent, followed by jute and textiles at 2.2 percent, information technology at 1.6 percent, and food and allied products at 1.5 percent.
Conversely, a few sectors bucked the trend to yield modest positive returns, including mutual funds (0.7 percent), paper and printing (0.5 percent), and pharmaceuticals and chemicals (0.2 percent).
Meanwhile, the country’s secondary bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), mirrored the bearish trend.
The CASPI, the general index of the CSE, slid by 0.58 percent or 84 points to close at 14,577 points, compared to 14,661 points in the previous week.
The CSCX index dipped 0.76 percent to settle at 8,948 points against 9,017 points a week earlier.
Weekly turnover on the port city bourse stood at Tk 72 crore, with 75 issues advancing, 186 declining, and 24 remaining unchanged out of 285 traded securities.