Weekly Capital Market Roundup: Indices fall, turnover sees improvement

Following the Eid holidays, trading at the country's stock exchanges resumed on a downward note.

Despite gains in the last two sessions of the week, investors did not experience a favourable outcome overall, as selling pressure remained high.

Over the week, the benchmark DSEX index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dropped by 13 points.

The index, which reopened at 5,219 points after the break, settled at 5,205 points by Thursday, 10 April.

Alongside the main index, the SME index – representing small and medium enterprises – also slumped.

The DSMEX declined by 25 points over the week, marking a 2.54 percent drop in the SME sector.

Of the remaining indices, the Shariah-compliant DSES and blue-chip DS30 managed to avoid the downward trend.

The DSES gained 4 points, while the DS30 rose by 13 points.

Most companies listed on the DSE witnessed a fall in share prices. Out of the total traded, 235 companies saw a decline in share value, compared to only 141 gaining.

The share prices of 19 companies remained unchanged throughout the week.

Despite the drop in indices, overall turnover on the DSE increased.

Weekly average turnover rose to Tk 487 crore, up from Tk 406 crore in the previous week — an increase of more than 19 percent.

In the banking sector, out of 36 listed banks, only 3 recorded gains in share price.

In contrast, 28 banks saw a decline, while 5 remained unchanged.

The sectoral index gained 8 points, and turnover rose by 5 percent; however, total returns fell by 1.75 percent.

Among other sectors, the cement and mutual fund sectors yielded the highest returns.

The cement sector led with a 6.9 percent return, followed by mutual funds at 6.55 percent.

The textile sector reported the sharpest decline, with returns dropping by 4.75 percent.

Negative returns were also observed in the paper, financial institutions, leather, general insurance, telecom and IT sectors.

Bangladesh Shipping Corporation recorded the highest turnover on the DSE this week, with shares worth Tk 248 million traded. The company's share price rose by 5.10 percent.

In the block market, Bank Asia led in terms of sales, offloading shares worth Tk 167.9 million throughout the week.

Like Dhaka, the Chattogram Stock Exchange (CSE) also witnessed a fall in its indices.

The overall index of the CSE dropped by 32 points over the week.

In addition to falling indices, turnover in Chattogram's market declined.

From a total of Tk 50 crore during the holiday week, the turnover dipped to Tk 43 crore in the following week.

Among the 318 companies traded at the CSE, 165 saw price declines, 131 gained, and 22 remained unchanged.

Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh topped the list of major performers on the CSE, with its share price increasing by approximately Tk 30 over the week.

In contrast, Ratanpur Steel Re-Rolling Mills Ltd, a Z-category company, recorded the biggest decline, with its share price dropping by Tk 18.51.

According to the weekly report from LankaBangla Securities, global developments, including tariff policies by former US President Donald Trump affecting Asian stock markets, along with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) latest outlook on Bangladesh’s economy, have had varying impacts on the domestic capital market.

However, the report suggests that the current relative stability in the domestic economy, combined with expectations of relaxed tariff measures by the Trump administration across major economies, may bring a degree of stability to Bangladesh’s capital markets in the upcoming week.