Stock rally keeps going as insurance shares spark

Dhaka stocks remained vigorously buoyant this week, as investors kept participating actively on the trading floor following the recent steady uptrend in the market.

Investors, according to stockbrokers and analysts, continued to inject fresh funds into sector-specific securities, while cautious ones were booking short-term gains by putting funds in the recently-rallied stocks.

The DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), rose 29 points, or 0.5 per cent to close the week at 6,355.

Among other indices, the DS30, the blue-chip index, added 2.83 points to settle at 2,201, and the DSES, the Shariah-based index, edged up 8.79 points to 1,379.

Turnover, another crucial market indicator, averaged out at Tk 1,104 crore this week, which was 20.4 per cent higher than the average turnover of Tk 917 crore in the previous week.

The market performed five sessions this week, with the market starting the week with a gain of 0.22 per cent on Sunday.

It, however, closed negative on Monday with a correction of 0.11 per cent.

The market again recovered by registering a gain of 0.21 per cent on Tuesday, but it lost the momentum on the following day with a correction of 0.10 per cent.

The market finally closed on a positive note on Thursday with a gain of 0.25 per cent.

Investors were mostly active in the life insurance stocks, with the sector contributing 15.0 per cent of the total weekly turnover of the DSE, followed by general insurance (14.8 per cent), and IT (8.9 per cent).

Sectors mostly showed positive returns, with the cement sector witnessing the highest gain of 5.6 per cent this week, while the travel sector faced the highest correction of 1.9 per cent in the week.

Most financial sectors posted positive performance this week, with the life insurance booking the highest gain of 4.66 per cent, followed by mutual fund (0.66 per cent), NBFI (0.29 per cent), general insurance (0.03 per cent), and bank (0.24 per cent).

Trust Islami Life Insurance Limited topped the gainers’ chart of the DSE with a return of 59.8 per cent, while Jute Spinners Ltd was the week’s worst sufferer with a loss of 14.9 per cent.