The country’s premier bourse, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), experienced mixed trends and sluggish trading activity last week (August 9–13). Despite a broader market slowdown, weak and non-performing companies—classified under the ‘Z’ category—dominated both the gainers’ and losers’ charts.
Companies under the ‘Z’ category are typically considered junk stocks, characterized by a failure to declare regular dividends or timely publish financial reports.
Weekly Market Overview
Despite declining prices across the board, the benchmark DSE Broad Index (DSEX) edged up by 22.95 points, or 0.39%, to close the week on a positive note. However, overall market metrics painted a subdued picture:
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Market Capitalization: Decreased by Tk 299 crore, falling to Tk 7,07,615 crore.
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Daily Average Turnover: Dropped by 15.59% to Tk 997.56 crore.
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Price Movements: Out of 387 traded issues, 208 recorded price declines, 162 advanced, and 17 remained unchanged.
‘Z’ Category Stocks Lead the Ranks
Six out of the top ten gainers belonged to the ‘Z’ category, securing the top three positions.
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Top Gainers: Tung Hai Knitting & Dyeing led the market with a massive 52.78% price surge, despite not declaring dividends since 2016 and failing to publish financial statements since March 2023. The company’s market capitalization surged by Tk 20.26 crore in a single week. Other major ‘Z’ category gainers included GBB Power (+26.67%) and Noorani Dyeing (+25.81%).
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Other Notable Gainers: Sena Insurance, NRBC Bank, Bangladesh Lamps, Metro Spinning, C&A Textile, Republic Insurance, and Beximco Limited also featured on the top gainers’ list.
Conversely, ‘Z’ category companies dominated the decliners’ chart, occupying 8 out of the top 10 spots.
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Top Decliners: Peoples Leasing suffered the sharpest fall, losing 20.83% of its share value. It was followed by a string of non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) in the ‘Z’ group, including Premier Leasing, Fareast Finance, International Leasing, Prime Finance, GSP Finance, FAS Finance, and Bangladesh Industrial Finance.
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Other Top Decliners: CAPM BDBL Mutual Fund and Sunlife Insurance rounded out the top 10 losers.
Beximco Leads Turnover Chart
Despite prevailing market sluggishness, Beximco Limited topped the weekly turnover chart, recording an average daily trading volume of Tk 36.67 crore.
Other high-turnover stocks included Sharp Industries, Malek Spinning, Saiham Textile, ML Dyeing, Summit Alliance Port, Dominage Steel Building, BRAC Bank, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, and Prime Insurance.
