Stocks rebound shrugging off coronavirus risk

Dhaka stocks recovered all of their losses on Monday, pulled up by the buying spree from the institutional investors, even as the detection of the coronavirus variant remains a concern for investors.

The market was in the negative territory in the early trade before closing in the positive terrain supported by the last-minute buying, particularly on services, power, NBFI, cement, and telecommunications.

The benchmark DSEX index gained over 61 points or 0.88 per cent to settle at 6,994, recovering well from 54 points lost in the previous session.

“The market shrugged off Omicron fears and made a strong rebound, nearly erasing all of yesterday’s losses,” said a dealer.

The Shariah-based DSES index rose 12 points or 0.85 per cent at 1,480 while the blue-chip comprising DS30 index gained 27 points or 1 per cent at 2,606.

However, selling pressure was observed in general insurance and bank faced correction.

Investors, particularly retailers, still preferred to stay sideliners. The DSE turnover by value increased slightly 1.8 per cent over the previous session to Tk 1,488 crore. The fuel sector accounted for 15.13 per cent of the total turnover.

All the large-cap sectors posted positive performance led by ICB, Robi, Power Grid, Titas Gas, Beximco and Beximco Pharmaceuticals, which significantly contributed to the rise of the index.

“Dhaka stocks returned to a winning streak, following a one-day break, fuelled by increased participation of investors on the bourse. Despite volatility in the early hour of trading, the market saw steady gains as bargain hunters took position on some large capitalized companies,” said the EBL Securities in a note.

State-run companies namely Power Grid, Titas Gas, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation observed a considerable rise in price based on investors’ increased interest in these profit-making companies.

The fuel sector booked the highest gain of 2.65 per cent followed by NBFI (+2.17 per cent), telecommunication (+1.05 per cent), engineering (+0.82 per cent), pharmaceutical (+0.46 per cent), food and allied (+0.15 per cent).

Popular Life Insurance was the day’s top gainer, followed by Fareast Life Insurance and Rangpur Foundry.

Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd (+9.7 per cent) was the most traded share with a turnover of Tk 101 crore, followed by Beximco and Bangladesh Shipping Corporation.

Out of the 377 issues traded, 178 advanced, 158 declined, and 41 remained unchanged. The port city bourse, CSE, settled in green terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) advanced by 101.9 points and 166.2 points respectively.