Stocks rally for fourth straight week

Stocks saw sharp gain for the fourth straight week with turnover improved further and key index of the premier bourse crossed 4,700-point mark as the investors started demonstrating their confidence in the market.
Analysts said the market witnessed strong buying pressure, mostly from institutions as continuous positive trend boosted investors' confidence and encouraged them to turn to the market.
The week featured all five trading sessions. Among them market closed higher four trading sessions while one saw mild correction.
Week-on-week, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) - DSEX went up by 183.30 points or 4.06 per cent to close at 4,702.66 points. It is the highest level of DSEX since its introduction on January 27, 2013.
The aggregate gain of the DSEX was over 406 points since the 10th general election held on January 5, 2014.
The DS30 index, the blue chip stocks went up sharply with gaining 71.32 points or 4.48 per cent and closed the week at 1,664.10 points.
The week marked introduction of first ever Shariah compliant index (DSES) on Monday which gained 34 points or 3.59 per cent from its opening value and closed at 976.33 points.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher, with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX gained 346.38 points or 3.89 per cent to close the week at 9,234.14 points.
The week featured all five trading sessions against last week's four sessions. The total market turnover for the week on DSE stood at Tk 36.98 billion against Tk 26.06 billion in the previous week.
The daily turnover averaged Tk 7.39 billion, registering 13.5 per cent increase over the previous week's average of Tk 6.51 billion.
Akther H Sannamat, managing director of Union Capital, said the investors' participation is increasing, as the market is showing stability, encouraging them to take fresh position.
As political turmoil is absent now and there is no tough programme in near future, investors regained some confidence in the market, he added.
"Investors are hustling to buy shares and pushing the market up continuously," commented LankaBangla Securities, in its weekly market analysis.
"They are probably expecting a good year for listed companies in terms of profitability. Turnover activity was also noticeable," said the stock broker.
"Increasing turnover with long green candles are indicating that fresh money is flowing in the market. As money market is very liquid and real investment in the economy has not yet picked up, excess liquidity in the banking system is rushing into the market," the stock broker added.
"Cement sector posted highest return for the second consecutive week. Cement sector is expected to do very good in 2014 as pent up demand of 2013 will be added to 2014's demand and there is room for volume growth of cement manufacturers in this year," said the stock broker.
"As political activities cooled down and economic activities heated up, investors went into a buying mode, throughout the week," said IDLC Investments, in its weekly market analysis.
Upcoming Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) also helped investors to take investment decisions, side by side, said the merchant bank.
"Strong investors' confidence is what the market needs at this moment of quick recovery, to build a strong basement for a longer and sustainable upward run," said Zenith Investments.    
However, it said "Since the market is prevailing in the green zone for quite a long time, investors should not set their targets too high in the hope of abnormal return, but the target must be set at a standard level".
The gainers took a strong lead over the losers as out of 299 issues traded during the week, 217 advanced, 74 declined and 8 remained unchanged on DSE floor.
Only one listed company - GSP Finance made corporate declaration in the week. GSP Finance recommended 12 per cent stock dividend.
Meanwhile, Mozaffar Spinning Mills, a new scrip in Textile sector made debut treading in the third session of the week.
All the major sectors saw hefty gains during the week. Fuel & power posted the highest gain of 6.51 per cent - followed by pharmaceuticals 5.92 per cent and NBFIs 4.78 per cent. Banks and telecommunications also ended in green, gaining 4.48 per cent and 2.31 per cent respectively.
Among all the major sectors, top gaining sectors of the week were Cement 7.8 per cent and Mutual Fund 7.4 per cent. Conversely, top losing sectors were Jute 19.4 per cent and Food & Allied 0.2 per cent.
The market capitalisation of the DSE went up by 3.29 per cent as it was Tk 2,768.58 billion at the opening day of the week and it stood at Tk 2,859.60 billion in closing day of the week.
Padma Oil dominated the week's top turnover chart with shares worth Tk 1.13 billion changing hands during the week followed by Meghna Petroleum, LankaBanla Finance, UCBL and Olympic Industries.
ICB AMCL Islamic Mutual Fund was the week's top gainer, posting a rise of 23.66 per cent while Rupali Life Insurance was the week's worst losers, slumping by 26.86 per cent.