Insurance-led market lost points last week
The key index of the Dhaka bourse lost its rally after three consecutive weeks amid investors' continued chase after general insurance shares in anticipation of short-term gains, resulting in nine out of the top ten weekly gainers being insurers.
DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stocks Exchange (DSE), corrected by 5.05 points to 6,302, after gaining more than 52 points in the past three consecutive weeks.
EBL Securities said in its weekly market commentary, investors remained active on both sides of the trading fence throughout the last week as they preferred to shift their investment focus from other sector-specific issues and concentrate on the hyped-up insurance sector stocks.
The market saw more selling than buying, and the index fell by the end of the week.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk2,864 crore, up from Tk2,623 crore in the previous week.
The average daily turnover stood at Tk573 crore in the outgoing week, which was 13% lower than the previous week's average of Tk656 crore.
The investors were mostly active in general insurance, capturing 36% of the week's total turnover.
The majority of the traded issues remained stuck at floor price as 369 issues traded, 204 remained unchanged, and 99 declined and 66 advanced on the DSE trading floor.
Small-cap Fu-Wang Food, which saw a 17.70% price fall, kept its dominance in the weekly turnover charts with shares worth Tk210 crore changing hands.
Crystal Insurance was the week's top gainer, rising 36.97% while Legacy Footwear was the worst loser, shedding 21.44% after its unusual price hike in recent weeks.
The Chattogram Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower, with the CSE All Share Price Index losing 52 points to settle at 18,626 while the Selective Categories Index fell 15 points to 11,136.
Of the issues traded, 75 declined, 63 advanced and 139 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 12.52 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value worth Tk59 crore.