Stocks extended rally for the second consecutive session on Thursday as buoyant investors put fresh bets on selective issues, encouraged by latest earnings disclosures.
Many investors continued their chase after sector-specific stocks, whose performance had not been affected by recent macroeconomic issues, in anticipation of quick gains, market insiders say.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up 17.55 points to settle at 6,295. DSEX added 28 points in the past two days.
Investor participation rose leading to an 18 per cent increase in daily turnover to Tk 6.87 billion.
"The market witnessed an upbeat trend throughout the session, with opportunist investors taking positions in selective issues whose financial performance was immune to the recent macroeconomic adversities," said EBL Securities.
Some recent improvements in macroeconomic indicators, such as the narrowing of trade deficit and increased exports and remittance, along with the approval of the IMF loan, have instilled some confidence in investors, the stockbroker said.
Remittance inflow jumped to a five-month high to $1.95 billion in January. The country's external position improved as the trade deficit shrank by 21 per cent in the first half of the FY23.
Some recently rallied stocks, however, experienced corrections due to profit-booking by some investors, EBL Securities added.
The Bangladesh Bank on Thursday relaxed the rule of keeping provision from 2 per cent to 1 per cent against bank loans provided to stock brokers, merchant banks and stock dealers.
This created a positive sentiment among investors whose buying pressure pulled the prime index at the beginning of the trading session that continued till the end, according to International Leasing Securities.
About 90 listed firms published quarterly financial reports in the past week. Most of the companies posted lower profit year-on-year for the October-December quarter of 2022.
Investors started to put fresh bets on sector-specific stocks after the recent correction based on quarterly declarations.
Price surge of Olympic Industries, Orion Pharma, Unique Hotel & Resorts, Orion Infusions and Kohinoor Chemicals led the benchmark index gain as these stocks jointly accounted for half of the day's index gain.
Olympic Industries' net profit jumped 46 per cent year-on-year to Tk 1.05 billion in the six months through December 2022 despite soaring prices of raw materials.
The leading biscuit maker's six months' revenue increased 32 per cent year-on-year to Tk 13.63 billion in July-December 2022.
As a result, investors showed interest in buying its shares throughout the week and the company emerged as the week's top gainer, soaring almost 14 per cent.
Orion Infusion, which was the week's second top gainer with 10.82 per cent rise, posted a 54 per cent EPS growth to Tk 0.40 for Q2 of the FY23.
Eastern Housing and Unique Hotel posted higher profits in the October-December quarter as well. Accordingly, investors took to the DSE to buy their shares.
The rally persisted throughout the Thursday's session as buying trend prevailed across the market.
Investors' participation remained concentrated on particular stocks that are expected to be somewhat immune to earnings volatility caused by recent macroeconomic adversities.
The IT sector dominated the turnover list, capturing 18 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by pharmaceuticals (14 per cent) and miscellaneous (9 per cent).
Most of the large-cap sectors posted gains with food & allied booking the highest gain of 0.48 per cent, closely followed by pharmaceuticals, banking, power and engineering.
Of the issues traded, 91 declined, 79 advanced and 165 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Genex Infosys became the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 617 million changing hands, closely followed by Orion Pharma, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Shinepukur Ceramics, and Olympic Industries.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) gaining 43 points to 18,583 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) rising 26 points to 11,139.
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