Dhaka stock market saw a decline in its indices in the past week for the second consecutive week as a section of investors chose to sell shares to realise short-term profits.
Also, many chose to stay on the sidelines amid a lacklustre market momentum during the Ramadan, the fasting month of the Muslims, market operators said.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, lost 43.34 points or 0.83 per cent, closing the week at 5,203.96 points.
This comes after a rise by 46.9 points in the week before.
The Dhaka bourse operated on five trading sessions in the past week, among which the first three recorded losses, and the remaining two sessions witnessed gains in its indices.
Stocks in specific sectors, such as Islami Bank Bangladesh, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, National Bank, and Beacon Pharmaceuticals dragged the market most, by 12.1 points.
Market operators said that the recent chaotic situation regarding the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission over forcefully retiring one of its employees contributed to the negative investor sentiment.
Officials and employees of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission have abstained from work on Thursday in the previous week, demanding resignation of chairman Khandaker Rashed Maqsood and other commissioners.
The officials began the protest on Wednesday, following forced retirement of an executive director, Saifur Rahman.
They went on strike as chairman Khandaker Rashed Maqsood and three commissioners did not resign.
Law enforcement personnel were stationed at the BSEC headquarters to maintain law and order.
A weekly commentary by EBL Securities noted that bargain hunters emerged in later part of the week to capitalize on the recent corrections, easing the selling pressure to some extent on the trading floor.
鈥業nvestors participation in the market declined by 30.0 per cent,鈥� it added.
The average daily turnover on the DSE also declined to Tk 362.70 crore last week, from Tk 509.33 crore in the previous week.
Out of 395 traded issues, 86 saw gains, 289 declined, and 20 remained unchanged.
The DS30 index, which tracks blue-chip stocks, went down by 15.87 points or 2.58 per cent, closing at 1,889.68 points.
The DSE Shariah index also declined by 6.11 points or 0.69 per cent, ending the week at 1,160.89 points.
Orion Infusion topped the turnover chart with an average daily turnover of Tk 21.46 crore.
Other leading turnover stocks included Prime Bank, Beach Hatchery, Shinepukur Ceramics, Al-Haj Textile Mills, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, Robi Axiata, KDS Accessories, Fu Wang Food, and IFIC Bank.