Dhaka stocks surge past 6,300 mark after national elections

Equity indices at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) experienced their upward momentum for the second week of January, with the daily turnover reaching a one-month high.

Investors' confidence seemed to have taken a positive turn as the market has risen for the last two sessions, after the easing of economic uncertainties that had been looming before the national elections.

In the last week, DSE's broad-based index DSEX moved up 57.53 points compared to the previous trading week and stood at 6,302, which was the highest in nearly four months. Shariah index DSES advanced 13 points to 1,376, and blue-chip DS30 rose nearly 24 points to settle at 2,118.

The participation of investors also increased significantly as the weekly turnover at the Dhaka bourse grew 37.60% to Tk2,197.86 crore.

In the last week, 147 scrips advanced, 33 declined, 200 remained unchanged, and 26 were not traded on the DSE trading floor.

The capital bourse of the country sparked a rally, with the benchmark index crossing the psychological threshold of the 6,300 mark after nearly four months, as investors felt somewhat relieved from the prevailing concerns regarding the market's momentum since the prevailing political uncertainties have somewhat eased down following the completion of the national elections, according to the daily market commentary by EBL Securities.

The brokerage house said the market observed buy dominance in the majority of the sessions as investor confidence slightly rebounded owing to positive expectations regarding the improvement of the prevailing external challenges impeding the market's momentum. 

Moreover, investors' buying interest was also aimed at particular large-cap stocks that remained shackled to the floor for a long time.

Investors were mostly active in the engineering sector, accounting for 13.6% of share trades, followed by the general insurance sector at 10.9% and pharmaceutical sectors at 8.6%. 

The majority of sectors concluded with positive gains, with the travel sector emerging as the top performer with a remarkable 6.9% increase and the jute sector being the biggest loser with a 0.9% decrease in value. 

At the DSE, the top three most-traded stocks were Union Capital, Rupali Bank, International Leasing and Financial, Bashundhara Paper Mills, and Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries. 

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange also settled on green terrain in the last week. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) advanced by 0.84% and 0.85% respectively, during the week. 

The participation of investors also increased significantly as the weekly turnover at the CSE bourse stood at Tk34 crore and the volume of shares was Tk1.23 crore.

In the last week, 106 scrips advanced, 26 declined, and 130 remained unchanged, on the CSE trading floor.