Home ›› 04 Mar 2023 ›› Stock
Snapping the fallout of four weeks, Dhaka stocks closed higher this week as opportunist investors poured in funds into some beaten-down issues taking benefit of the recent market correction.
The market, however, witnessed a slightly topsy-turvy week as investors still preferred short-term gains and concentrated their buying interest on selective issues.
The DSEX, the broad index of the prime bourse Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), gained 8.63 points or 0.14 per cent to close the week at 6,213.
Turnover, another crucial market indicator, averaged out at Tk 359 crore which was 31.36 per cent higher than that in the previous week.
IT sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 20.37 per cent to the total turnover of the DSE.
EBL Securities, a stockbroker, said in its weekly market review that the benchmark index of the capital bourse ended on a flat note after snapping a four-week losing streak as investors deemed some selective issues lucrative following the recent market correction.
The securities regulator this week expanded the range of its floor price mechanism to contain the free fall of securities after the key index of the prime bourse dropped below the 6200-point mark amid investors’ declining participation and macroeconomic woes in the country.
In an order issued on Wednesday, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) reinforced floor prices for 169 companies and mutual funds, taking into account their average closing prices for the past four sessions executed from Sunday to Wednesday.
But, investors did not become optimist with the latest regulatory decision at a time when there has been no clear outlook centring the market rebound, analysts said.
Earlier, on December 21 last year, the BSEC lifted the floor price from these 169 listed securities in a bid to improve the market momentum.
After that order, the lower price change limit for these scrips had been traded 1 per cent based on the reference price of the last trading day’s closing price.
The stock market regulator before on July 28, 2022, imposed floor prices on all securities to prevent shares from falling beyond a certain level amid the domestic and global macroeconomic strains.
Share prices of most companies have been stuck at their floor prices for a long time, making investors averse to liquidating their holdings, consequently creating a liquidity crunch in the market.
Previously, in March 2020, the securities regulator had taken a similar move to limit the free fall of shares following the severe outbreak of the Covid-19 global pandemic in Bangladesh, when the DSEX fell below 3,000 points.
The market performed five sessions during this week.
The DSE started on a negative note by 0.37 per cent on Sunday.
It, however, turned positive on Monday by gaining 0.28 per cent and continued the trend on Tuesday as well by gaining 0.29 per cent.
The market again moved back to the negative territory on Wednesday and continued the bearish momentum on Thursday also.
The IT, life insurance, and general insurance sectors closed positive this week while jute, travel & leisure and pharmaceutical sectors faced corrections, according to the UCB Stock Brokerage.
Out of the issues traded, 56 advanced, 111 declined, and 205 remained unchanged on the Dhaka bourse for the week.
AND Telecom was the week’s top gainer, soaring 18.5 per cent while Islami Commerecial Insurance Company was the week’s worst loser, losing 10.9 per cent.
The port city stock exchange, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also settled lower this week.
Out of the issues traded, 33 advanced, 96 dclined, and 103 remained unchanged on the CSE in the week.
