Indices gain amid business-friendly lockdown

Following the massive panic sale on Sunday, the stock investors seem to have regained their composure as the lockdown appears to be more business-friendly this time.

DSEX, the benchmark at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), fell by 181 points or 3.44% on Sunday, but then it gained 192 points over the next two sessions.

On its way to recovery, the DSEX gained around 88 points on Monday as soon as investors saw the lockdown is more like a political strike when almost everything, except the public transport and shopping malls, operate. This is different from the general holidays which devastated businesses in 2020.

On Tuesday, the bargain hunters became more active and the market index gained by 2% or around 103 points to close at 5,281.

"The equity indices skyrocketed as the investors rushed to take advantage of the low priced securities," said the EBL Securities in their market commentary after Tuesday's trading session ended.

Ashikur Rahman, a retail investor sold off some of his holdings on Sunday due to fears over the lockdown. He bought the same stocks back on Tuesday as soon as the market turned to a positive direction.

"Every bad thing has its end – we learned that in 2020," said Rahman, "Most importantly, the lockdown this time is better for businesses and the economy than the one in last year."  

"Lockdown worries appeared to cool down and the investors' attitude turned positive towards the bourses due to relentless efforts from the market regulator," the EBL analysts concluded.

Meanwhile, 240 of the DSE scrips gained on Tuesday, while 15 lost, and price of 91 scrips remained unchanged as they are stuck at the floor price.

Non-life insurers were the head turners on Tuesday as the price of a large number of them increased up to the maximum allowable limit for a single session.

Analysts said the non-life stocks have come through a reasonable correction over last three-four months and bargain hunters preferred picking the stocks as there was no bad news for the sector's business.

The non-life or general insurance sector added more than 8% to its market capitalisation on Tuesday.

Analysts praised the momentum in trading turnover as the DSE registered a 114% rise in its daily turnover.

Amid the lockdown, the trading session is shortened by the bourses and the DSE hosted securities worth Tk508 crore on Tuesday, which is near to that over a normal session.

On the sectoral front, the general insurance sector contributed to over 31% of the trading turnover at the DSE, while banking and miscellaneous sectors contributed to over 10% turnover each.

All the sectors, except the paper and printing, observed a positive price movement. Ceramic and telecommunication sectors gained by more than 5% each while general insurance rallied by 8.1%.

Meanwhile, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also had a similar big day as the CSCX, the broad index there, increased by 2% and more noticeably turnover skyrocketed to Tk150 crore from Tk16 crore.