Stocks see steepest rise on bout of buying

Dhaka stocks witnessed the steepest rise on the bout of buying on Wednesday, erasing all the sharp losses seen in the previous two sessions.

The rally was led mainly by financial institutions, cement, ceramics, textile, engineering and insurers.

The DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), jumped 114.09 points or 1.66 per cent to settle at 6,982. It was its biggest single-day rise since October 26.

On Tuesday, Sonali Bank said it will lend Tk 500 crore to the Investment Cooperation of Bangladesh (ICB) to invest in the stock market. “The news boosted the investor sentiment,” said a top stockbroker.

Turnover increased 15.48 per cent to Tk 1,164 crore, driven by the miscellaneous sector that accounted for 21.15 per cent of the total turnover.

In a press statement, Sonali Bank Deputy Managing Director Mujibur Rahman said the adequate investment was needed for the development of the country and the capital market was one of the prime areas for investment.

He also said without the development of the capital market, it is almost impossible to implement long-term plans and mega projects of the country.

“Therefore, Sonali Bank is playing an important role in various ways for a sustainable capital market,” he added.

As the benchmark index lost almost 500 points over the last one-month period, investors opted for taking new positions in the stocks in the last two sessions in what they deemed to be lucrative price levels, said the EBL Securities in its market analysis.

“Sonali Bank has provided ICB with Tk 500 crore in loans to invest in the stock market which is a positive signal for the retail investors. Investors’ participation also rose this session as yesterday’s turnaround helped investors to regain confidence,” it said.

All sectors except jute and tannery exerted positive return, out of which financial institution (4.3 per cent), cement (2.8 per cent) and ceramic (2.7 per cent) have exerted the most positive returns while tannery (-0.9 per cent) and jute (-0.8 per cent) observed the most corrections on the day.

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also settled in green terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) advanced by 202.9 points and 336.5 points respectively.