Stocks gain as regulatory decision boosts investors’ confidence

Stocks in Bangladesh extended the gaining streak on Wednesday as investors’ confidence grew over the securities regulator’s conditional restoration of share trading against bank cheques before encashment.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka stock Exchange (DSE), surged 35.66 points or 0.56 per cent to settle at 6,388 against 6,353 points in the previous trading session.

Among other indices, the DS30, the blue-chip index, rose 8.37 points or 0.37 per cent to close at 2,244, and the DSES, the Shariah-based index, gained 9.48 points or 0.68 per cent to 1,399.

Turnover, another crucial market indicator, shot up by 61.9 per cent to Tk 1,461 crore versus Tk 902.8 crore in the previous session in the Dhaka bourse.

The market started positive and the momentum sustained throughout the session as investors opted to put fresh funds in major issues in a bid to harness quick gains, said EBL Securities, a stockbroker, in its daily market review.

The market witnessed a significant inflow of funds since the resolution regarding the cheque encashment issue lifted investors’ confidence about a vibrant market forecast in the coming days.

On the sectoral front, the miscellaneous sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 21.7 per cent to the total turnover, followed by IT (13.1 per cent) and Pharma & Chemical (12 per cent) sector.

Most of the sectors displayed positive returns on the trading board of the DSE on Wednesday. Of them, the IT sector posted the highest gains of 6.7 per cent, followed by general insurance (4.1 per cent) and services (3.7 per cent).

On the other hand, the travel sector faced the most corrections with a loss of 1.7 per cent, followed by tannery (0.2 per cent) and financial institutions (0.2 per cent).

Out of the 389 issues traded, 113 stocks advanced, 41 issues declined, and 235 scrips did not see any price movement on the DSE trading floor.

The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also closed higher with two of its major indices — the selected indices (CSCX) and the All Share Price Index (CASPI) — advancing by 42.8 points and 71.5 points respectively.