Dhaka stocks decreased slightly in the past week, after an increase in its indices in the previous week, as investors were hesitant to buy shares, and a section of investors sold shares over ongoing worries about the economy.
Worries about rising inflation, caused by a possible increase in value added tax on essentials and services, made investors even more careful and slowed down the market鈥檚 progress.
Overall investor sentiment remains subdued amid a lack of New Year optimism due to the volatile state of the market.
Market operators said that investors remained observant of the market amid the continuous bearish vibe in the absence of any significant trigger for a recovery.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, decreased by 5.19 points, or 0.10 per cent, in the past week to end at 5,194.43 points, after increasing by 15.17 in the previous week.
The DSE operated on five sessions in the past week, among which four sessions witnessed decrease in its key index, and one saw increase.
According to market operators, the overall mood in the stock market remains gloomy and hasn鈥檛 improved for quite some time.
Investors are still hesitant because there hasn鈥檛 been any major positive news or event to boost their confidence. Without a strong reason to believe the market will perform better, most investors are choosing to stay cautious and avoid taking risks, they said.
General investors were cautious as the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission recently imposed huge amount of fines on several individual investors and entities on allegations of share price manipulation and violation of securities laws.
The Investment Corporation of Bangladesh鈥檚 Tk 3,000 crore funds, which was being injected in the market, failed to spark any significant recovery trigger.
Market operators added that the rising interest rates made fixed-income instruments more lucrative compared to the capital market return to the investors.
The daily average turnover on the DSE decreased in the past week to reach Tk 346.59 crore compared with that of Tk聽348.12 crore in the previous week.
Of the 398 issues traded in the past week, 140 increased, 208 decreased and 50 stayed the same.
EBL Securities in its weekly market commentary said, 鈥楧espite a cautious sense of optimism among investors surrounding the finance adviser鈥檚 meeting with the capital market stakeholders, such optimism failed to sustain due to a lack of any concrete commitments that can restore the market鈥檚 waning momentum.鈥�
The DS30 index increased by 6.7 points, or 0.35 per cent, to finish at 1,924.27 points.
The DSE Shariah index gained 6.84 points, or 0.59 per cent, to close at 1,161.94 points in the past week.
Fine Foods topped the average weekly turnover chart with shares worth Tk聽22.31 crore changing hands per session.
Midland Bank, Robi Axiata, Orion Infusion, Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries, Agni Systems,聽Oimex Electrode, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Grameenphone, and Reliance One the first scheme of Reliance Insurance Mutual Fund were the other turnover leaders.