Stocks up as Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks begin

Dhaka stocks bounced back amid low turnover on Monday as ceasefire talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials began.

At the end of two turbulent sessions on the Dhaka Stock Exchange, the benchmark DSEX index rallied almost 1 per cent, or 63 points, to 6,739 after Sunday’s plunge, while its two junior indices--the Shariah-based DSES index surged 0.57 per cent, or 0.57 points, to 1,453 and the blue-chip comprising DS30 index gained 0.58 per cent, or 14 points, to 2,482.

The bounce reversed many of the losses seen in the previous session when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent world financial markets into a tailspin.

Ceasefire talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials began on the Belarusian border on Monday as Russia faced deepening economic isolation four days after invading Ukraine, which eased worries among the investors.

However, the volume of trade by value hit a two-month low nearing Tk 7,00 crore—its worst not seen before December 29, 2021, when it was Tk 735 crore.

Analysts said the turnaround on stocks came as investors bet the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the locals will be milder than feared.

“Some investors look to buy on the dip as falling market represented a lucrative opportunity for buying while others preferred to stay off,” said an analyst at a top brokerage firm.

Another reason for halting the market fall is that the securities regulator enquired some stockbrokers about Sunday’s massive sell-off. “We’re looking for the causes of market plunge,” said BSEC Commissioner Shaikh Shamsuddin Ahmed at an event on the day.

Unlike Sunday’s session when there was across the board selling pressure, the majority of scripts closed in the green as out of shares of 377 companies traded, 314 registered an increase, 36 recorded a fall, and 27 remained unchanged.

“Equity indices turned green on recovery attempts, after the bourses witnessed a sharp correction of 272-point, as panic-driven sell-frenzy cooled a bit while investors took position on low-priced issues on the bourse,” said the EBL Securities in a note.

Trading activities were sluggish as most investors are on the sidelines to regain confidence on the bourse, it said.

The insurance sector was among the biggest riser with fain of 2.28 per cent, followed by textile 1.74 per cent, IT 1.39 per cent, NBFI 1.3 per cent and bank 1.26 per cent.

Tamijuddin Textile Mills soared 8.74 per cent, making it the top gainer after falling around 3 per cent in the previous session.

The port city bourse, CSE, also settled in green terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) has advanced by 80.0 points and 140.6 points respectively.