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Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the country’s prime bourse, observed a substantial increase in participation on Sunday as market turnover crossed the Tk 1,500 mark after 16 months, surging by 40.8 per cent to Tk 1,580 crore.
Earlier, the highest turnover on DSE was Tk 1,811 crore on September 25, 2022.
Dhaka stocks charged up in the first session of the week, riding on strong buying behaviour across the trading board owing to heightened optimism among investors since they perceived lucrative investment opportunities in the market following the recent corrections.
DSEX, the key index of DSE, gained 66.74 points and closed at 6,280.74 at the end of trading.
Buyers remained predominant throughout the session as investors opted to take fresh positions in equities considering the persistently upbeat vibe in the market. Besides, many opportunistic investors continued their chase for the trendy scrips in anticipation of quick gains that added further strength to the current rallies in sector-specific issues, EBL Securities said in its daily market review.
The blue-chip index, DS30, and the Shariah-based index, DSES, closed at 2,124.70 and 1,371.06 points, respectively, while all the large-cap sectors posted positive performances on Sunday.
Of the 393 issues traded, 319 advanced, 44 declined and 30 remained unchanged at the Dhaka bourse.
Engineering booked the highest gain of 4 per cent. Block trades contributed 2.7 per cent of the overall market turnover. Fu Wang Food Ltd had the most traded share, with a turnover of Tk 69 crore.
Meanwhile, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also settled on green terrain on Sunday as the selected indices (CSCX) and All Share Price Index (CASPI) surged by 128.0 and 218.7 points, respectively.
DSE on Sunday crossed Tk 1,500 crore for the first time after the removal of the floor price on most of the listed companies.
On January 18, after the session's closing bell, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) issued an order rescinding the floor price for all listed companies and mutual funds, except for 35 companies' shares, complying with a long-standing demand from stakeholders.
On January 21, DSEX fell 96.50 points, or 1.52 per cent, in the first trading session after the floor price withdrawal. After five minutes of trading, the key index had plunged about 214 points but later recovered most of the initial losses.
The next day, DSEX gained 14.05 points and closed at 6,254.31. The stock market regulator also withdrew the floor price for 23 more companies that day.
Now only 12 companies share the floor price. These are Anwar Galvanizing, British American Tobacco, Beximco Ltd, BSRM Ltd, Grameenphone, Islami Bank, Khulna Power, Meghna Petroleum, Orion Pharma, Renata, Robi Axiata, and Shahjibazar Power.
Market insiders said the key index was very much expected to fall as a large number of stocks failed to see price discovery for a long time due to the floor price.
They also said that many investors did not get the opportunity to trade due to the prolonged price level. As a result, there was pressure to sell shares at the beginning of the day, but it gradually decreased.
Welcoming the floor withdrawal move, a leading stock broker said the market might see some corrections in the first few days. It’s nothing to be afraid of, and the market will recover very soon.
On July 28, 2022, BSEC imposed floor prices on all securities to prevent shares from falling beyond a certain level amid domestic and global macroeconomic strains.
The share prices of most companies have been stuck at their floor prices for an extended period, pushing investors towards liquidating their holdings and creating a liquidity crisis in the market.
