DSE turnover hits 7-month high

The turnover of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the country’s premier bourse, hit nearly a seven-month high on Sunday, as inert investors returned to the trading floor following the recent bullish run of the market.

The prime bourse’s turnover reached Tk 1,174 crore yesterday, up 13.31 per cent higher than the turnover tally of Tk 1,036 crore in the previous trading session.

Meanwhile, the DSEX, the benchmark index of the DSE, also shot up 14.15 points to settle at 6,339, against 6,325 in the previous session.

The insurance stocks, according to stockbrokers and analysts, played the central role for the market’s bull run, as investors were heavily concentrated on the sector, helping the key index jump significantly.

A recent governmental announcement that no vehicles would be allowed to ply on streets without insurance coverage, produced significant investor optimism about the insurance securities, they added.

Out of the top 10 gainers at the capital bourse yesterday, at least seven companies were from the insurance sector, as per the DSE data.

Detailing the reasons behind an overflow in market liquidity, stockbrokers and analysts commented that many investors especially foreigners, were now pouring big funds into fresh equities following the recent vibrancy in the market, helping the market register a record jump in its daily turnover value.

The number of transactions at the capital bourse also shot up exponentially, with 2,56,357 trades being executed yesterday, against the number of 2,28,460 recorded in the previous session. The general insurance sector topped the turnover chart with a contribution of 20.04 per cent of the total turnover of the DSE, followed by life insurance (13.00 per cent), and engineering (10.1 per cent).

Most sectors displayed mixed returns, with the general insurance witnessing the highest gain of 5.7 per cent, followed by life insurance (1.8 per cent), and cement (1.6 per cent).

On the other hand, the jute faced the highest correction of 2.0 per cent, followed by IT (1.3 per cent), and services (0.9 per cent). Out of the securities traded, 102 advanced, 77 declined and 213 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.