DSEX rises sharply as banking stocks shine

The benchmark DSEX index eked out gains on Thursday, wrapping up the wild week on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

It went into the red briefly in the morning before closing higher driven by banks. At close, it rose over 50 points or 0.71 per cent to settle at 7,062, extending its gaining streak for the second straight session.

The Shariah-based DSES index edged 2 points or 0.13 per cent lower to 1,479 and the blue-chip DS30 index ticked down 5 points or 0.20 per cent to 2,638.

The market pullers included Beximco Ltd, Pubali Bank, Grameenphone, Malek Spinning, Hamid Fabrics, Lanka Bangla Finance, Rupali Bank, City Bank and South East Bank.

Banking stocks stole the show on the day as out of 32 banks, all but the two banks closed in the positive terrain as the third-quarter earnings started to pour in the market.

“While there is some stress on the banks, earnings of some, however, encouraging,” said an analyst at a top investment bank.

The key index recovered sharply as strong earnings reported by some corporates overshadowed concerns over the economy, rising communal tension and some other factors, he said.

The low-cap textile sector also attracted investors led by Hamid Fabrics skyrocketing more than 67 per cent following its corporate declaration. Out of the top ten gainers, all but one came from the textile sector.

The strong buying led by the institutional investors pushed up the trading activity as the DSE turnover increased to Tk 1,724 crore, an increase of more than 15 per cent over the previous session backed by textile that accounted for 16.63 per cent, bank 15.60 per cent, and miscellaneous 11.15 per cent of the total turnover.

The institutional investors who were in the selling moods in the last few sessions bet on stocks, according to dealers.

Beximco Ltd soaring over 2 per cent was the most traded stock, accounting for more than 10 per cent of the total turnover. It was followed by IFIC Bank, Malek Spinning, Orion Pharmaceuticals, SAIF Powertec and BATBC.

The port city bourse, CSE, also settled in green terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) charged up by 107.2 points and 175.8 points respectively.