DSE turnover hits six-month high

Turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) hit a fresh six-month high Sunday with investors going on a bull run, mostly bagging large-cap stocks, amid an ambience of optimism in share trading.
According to official count on the first working day's trade in stocks, the total turnover on the country's premier bourse stood at Tk 7.64 billion. The amount registered an increase of 29.91 per cent over the previous session value of Tk 5.88 billion.
Also, it happens to be highest single-day total proceeds since the Tk 7.70-billion turnover recorded on February 6 this year.
The investors' attention was mainly focused on fuel and power, pharmaceuticals, textiles and engineering-the sectors that accounted for 19.60 per cent, 18.94 per cent, 13.72 per cent and 9.86 per cent respectively in the day's total trade.
However, the ever-highest turnover was recorded Tk 32.49 billion on December 5, 2010 when the market was bullish.
Along with high turnover, the prime index of the DSE - DSEX -- also crossed the 'psychological' threshold of 4,500 points after three months and closed at 4,530.83. The tally marked a gain of 44.64 points or 0.99 per cent.
The advancers beat the decliners 165 to 100. Thirty-four issues, however, remained unchanged on the prime bourse.
The buying spree happen happens to have been spurred mainly by deposit interest rate cuts by banks and lucrative pricing level in recent times, said an analyst.
"Investors' confidence seems back to the positive mode as the economy is showing signs of recovery after prolonged period of political turmoil," he said.
IDLC Investments said: "Stable macroeconomic indicators like foreign-exchange reserves crossing US$22 billion and thus BDT appreciation continuing its ongoing trend put a positive 'psychological' impact on investors."
Investors' confidence remained high, evidenced by sustainable increase in participation in terms of turnover in last few sessions, said the merchant bank.
"Mostly, large cap-centric trading pattern assisted in accumulating this bulk amount of turnover, with top ten capturing 38.77 per cent of the day's trade," the merchant-bank management added in its appreciation of the market situation.
"The market's upbeat movement continued as the investors showed genuine optimism as well as immense participation in the first session in the week," commented International Leasing Securities, in its regular market analysis.
Price appreciation was noticed across most of the sectors, particularly in a few newly-listed issues along with a couple of heavyweight issues, said the International Leasing.
And such price appreciation in most of the sectors along with significant price movement of several large-cap stocks fuelled the market.
LankaBangla Securities said: "Market registered a handsome return with turnover crossing 7.0- billion mark as heavyweight stocks extended their rally further with increased buying interest."
The market turnover was around 30 percent higher than that of previous session, implying increased buying interest, said the stockbroker.