Dhaka stocks last week extended bear run to the fourth week as investors continued to sell shares amid a legal battle over mandatory 2 per cent shareholding by listed company sponsor-directors, market operators said. They said uncertainties following the finance minister’s announcement that the government ‘would not allow’ legalisation of undisclosed money in the upcoming budget also kept investors anxious.
The finance minister, AMA Muhith, on May 8 and 9 said that they would not allow ‘whitening of black money in the upcoming budget.’
The key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 4,384.06 points, shedding 0.74 per cent or 32.89 points in last week.
The DSEX lost 282 points in the last four weeks.
The High Court on May 14 declared illegal a BSEC directive issued on November 22, 2011 that had asked sponsor-directors of listed companies to individually hold minimum 2 per cent shares of the paid-up capital of their respective companies.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission took the matter to the Appellate Division, and its chamber judge on May 15 stayed the HC verdict setting May 22 for hearing by its regular court.
However, the market regulator’s appeal was not on the cause-list for hearing on Thursday.
Market operators said investors were hoping for a court ruling on Thursday.
In last week, average daily turnover of the bourse declined by 35.52 per cent to Tk 234.64 crore compared to that of Tk 363.91 crore in the week before.
Of the 303 issues traded in the week, 192 declined, 87 advanced and 24 issues remained unchanged.
Brokerage house officials said the market witnessed only single day of rise in last week as the government in its annual development programme of 2014-15 allocated Tk 8,100 crore budget for the Padma bridge construction.
The DS30, blue chips index of the bourse, lost 14.79 points, or 0.92 per cent, in last week to close at 1,589.60 points.
The DSE’s Shariah index went down by 11.92 points, or 1.21 per cent, to close at 972.92 points.
‘With the quarterly declarations slipping on the negative territory, investors started to search for new stimulus to rebalance portfolio, which ended in vain,’ commented IDLC Investments in its weekly market analysis.
‘Budgetary expectations and current macroeconomic scenario took the spotlight of last week’s show, while the central bank’s regulatory actions played the role of a protagonist,’ said the merchant bank.
All the major sectors ended lower last week with telecommunications declining the most with a 3.62-per cent loss. It was followed by food and allied (2.10 per cent), pharmaceuticals (2.08 per cent). Fuel and power, non-bank financial institutions and banks also retraced by 0.35 per cent, 0.81 per cent and 0.30 per cent respectively.
Lafarge Surma Cement topped the week’s turnover chart with its shares worth Tk 60.00 crore changing hands. The other turnover leaders were Square Pharma, Hwa Well Textiles, Grameenphone and Matin Spinning.
Ambee Pharmaceuticals was the week’s top gainer, posting a rise of 23.64 per cent following its hefty dividend declaration while Golden Son was the week’s top loser, slumping by 22.82 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.
-With New Age input
