FE Today Logo

Stocks extend rally for third straight session

DSE daily turnover remains high at Tk 26.69b


FE REPORT | June 11, 2021 00:00:00


Stocks extended their rally for the third straight session on Thursday as enthusiastic investors continued to put fresh bets on sector specific issues.

Following the previous day's record turnover, the market opened sharply higher and key index rose 58 points, crossing the 6,100-mark in the early trading.

But most of the early gains eroded amid profit booking sell-offs on general insurance, banking and non-bank financial institutions stocks.

Finally, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 11.59 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 6,066, which is the highest level of DSEX in more than three years since February 4, 2018, when DSEX was 6,102.

DSEX added more than 91 points in the past three consecutive sessions.

The market capitalisation of the DSE soared to a fresh all-time high at Tk 5,099 billion on Thursday, surpassing the previous day's record high of Tk 5,097 billion, thanks to increased investor participation.

Two other indices also edged higher with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, advanced 2.47 points to finish at 2,205 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) gained 3.23 points to close at 1,299.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, remained high and stood at Tk 26.69 billion on the country's premier bourse, which was 1.15 per cent lower than the previous day's decade high of Tk 27 billion.

Market experts said budgetary measures, lower returns on the money market and regulatory reforms continued to cheer investors to park their funds on stocks.

The last minute rush to take the advantage of whitening black money through investment in the capital market by the end of this month might also have a contribution to push up the turnover, they said.

The new budget proposed to cut corporate tax rate for the listed firms by 2.5 percentage points to 22.5 per cent for the upcoming fiscal year which added impetus to the ongoing market rally, said a merchant banker.

However, the ongoing facility to invest undisclosed money in the capital market would not be allowed in the next fiscal year.

The black money holders bet on stocks as the opportunity for whitening undisclosed money will expire this month as the government did not mention anything in the new budget, he said.

The last budget offered the opportunity to whiten the black money with only a 10 per cent penalty. But the opportunity was not given in the fiscal year 2021-2022.

"As a result, a portion of black money has been invested on stocks jumping at the last chance, contributing to the increase in transactions," he said.

The investors' participation depicted confidence towards the market as budgetary measures and tax benefit facility influenced the fresh flow of funds in the bourse, commented EBL Securities.

However, the hyped-up insurance sector saw immense sell pressure on the day as their stocks were priced at an exorbitant level, said the stockbroker.

International Leasing Securities said buoyancy in textile, mutual funds, life insurance, telecom and miscellaneous sectors helped the benchmark index to stay afloat.

However, some investors booked some quick gain on general insurance, banking, engineering and financial institution sectors, said the stockbroker.

The general insurance took a big hit, losing 3.10 per cent after soaring more than 7.0 per cent in the previous day, followed by non-bank financial institutions with 1.20 per cent, engineering 1.20 per cent and banking 0.90 per cent.

On the other hand, textile generated the highest return of 3.60 per cent, followed by mutual fund with 2.50 per cent, life insurance 1.50 per cent and telecom 1.40 per cent.

Gainers took a strong lead over the losers, as out of 367 issues traded, 209 advanced, 149 declined and 9 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 2.29 billion changing hands, followed by LankaBangla Finance (Tk 550 million), Pioneer Insurance (Tk 487 million), Fortune Shoes (Tk 475 million) and National Polymer (Tk 414 million).

Zaheen Spinning was the day's top gainer hitting the upper limit circuit breaker with 10 per cent gain, while Dhaka Insurance was the worst loser, losing 11.50 per cent despite its higher dividend declaration news.

A total number of 367,634 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 856.39 million shares and mutual fund units.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended high with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -rising 69 points to settle at 17,585 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX gaining 39 points to close at 10,594.

Of the issues traded, 175 advanced, 120 declined and 24 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city's bourse traded 38.20 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 1.15 billion.

[email protected]


Share if you like