Dhaka stocks 2-month high after nat’l polls

DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), surged by 25.3 points or 0.41 per cent to settle at a 2-month high of 6,270 points after the first post-election session.

Meanwhile, market turnover increased by 28.1 per cent to Tk 441 crore as against Tk 344 crore in the previous session.

The capital market started out on a high note on Monday owing to post-election buoyancy, as most investors felt somewhat relieved from the prevailing tensions on the political front, although overall market sentiment has yet to recover across the trading floor, EBL Securities said in its daily market review.

The market opened higher, with buyer dominance prevalent throughout the session due to heightened optimism among investors, while some particular large-cap stocks held firm positions on the trading board, propelling the broad index to post a steep gain, it said.

Moreover, investors' buying interest was aimed at particular bank stocks that they deemed would declare satisfactory financial results in the upcoming year-end earnings disclosures.

However, investor participation has yet to rebound since cautious investors still clung to a bleak outlook on the market’s momentum amid concerns regarding the grappling macroeconomic environment, said in its daily market review.

The blue-chip index DS30 and the Shariah-based index DSES closed at 2,102.23 and 1,367.01 points, respectively. All the large-cap sectors posted positive performance on Monday.

Out of the 392 issues traded, 119 advanced, 44 declined, and 229 remained unchanged at the Dhaka bourse.

Besides, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) is looking for an effective measure to inject funds into capital market intermediaries in a bid to tackle any fallouts arising from floor price withdrawal, which were planned after the national polls.

As part of this initiative, BSEC Chairman Prof Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam met with stakeholders – top leaders of the Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) and the DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh (DBA) – on Thursday at his office in the capital.

Moreover, the Capital Market Stabilization Fund (CMSF) on Thursday decided to lend Tk 100 crore to capital market intermediaries, such as brokerages and merchant banks. The CMSF made this decision following BSEC advice to bring stability to the capital market after the polls.

Providing more details, BSEC Executive Director and Spokesperson Rezaul Karim had said, “There is a plan to withdraw the floor price after the national polls. After that, panic sales and forced sales will increase in the market. So, the supply of funds in the market should be increased.

“A fund of Tk 100 crore has been created for this purpose, and the figure will later be raised to Tk 200 crore. At the same time, there is a plan to disburse loans at low interest. Investors will also be instructed to invest the amount equivalent to the loan.”

BSEC Chairman Prof Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam said the economy will pick up after the upcoming national election. He added that the capital market is very technical and many people could not understand its importance.

“The post-election five years should be a golden period for the economy of Bangladesh,” he said, adding that the stock market then should not require the restrictive measure that was imposed at the end of July 2022.

Besides the economic headwinds brought by the Ukraine war, investors were “going slowly ahead of the election” to be held on January 7, and the two factors together dragged down trading turnover in the stock market, said the capital market regulatory chief.

Bank sector booked the highest gain of 0.94 per cent followed by NBFI, Pharmaceutical, Engineering, Fuel & Power, Food & Allied, and Telecommunication, respectively. Block trades contributed 8.5 per cent of the overall market turnover.

BD Thai Aluminium was the most traded share with a turnover of Tk 24 crore, BRAC EPL said in its daily market review.

The port city bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also settled on green terrain. The selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) charged up by 36.0 and 59.6 points, respectively.