Written by The Banking Post
Bangladesh’s stock market rebounded sharply this week, with the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) climbing to a two-month high, driven by renewed buying interest in undervalued blue-chip stocks as the national election draws closer.
Market participants said easing political uncertainty and expectations of post-election stability encouraged both general and institutional investors to inject fresh funds into fundamentally strong stocks that had declined during the recent correction.
“The market had become oversold after months of weakness. As election campaigning begins, some of the uncertainty has lifted, prompting investors to return in search of quick gains,” said a leading stockbroker, adding that political stability could support a positive market outlook in the coming months.
Adding to confidence, a delegation of capital market stakeholders recently met BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman to discuss the sector’s prospects, which further boosted investor sentiment.
Over the five trading sessions, the DSEX gained 140 points, or 2.84 per cent, to close at 5,099, reversing the previous week’s losses. The rally was supported by broad-based sectoral gains and strong participation, despite mild profit-taking toward the end of the week.
The blue-chip DS30 index advanced 50 points to 1,963, while the Shariah-based DSES rose 29 points to 1,025. Gains in large-cap stocks such as Square Pharma, BRAC Bank, Beximco Pharma, Walton and BAT Bangladesh together contributed nearly one-third of the index rise.
Market activity also surged, with weekly turnover jumping to Tk 28.79 billion from Tk 19 billion a week earlier. Average daily turnover stood at Tk 5.76 billion, up 51 per cent.
General insurance stocks dominated trading, accounting for nearly 18 per cent of total turnover, followed by pharmaceuticals and banking. The insurance sector also posted the highest weekly gain of 9.2 per cent, while telecom, engineering, food, pharma, non-bank financial institutions, power and banking sectors all closed higher.
However, analysts flagged concerns as ‘Z’ category stocks dominated the top gainers’ list, with several distressed financial companies posting sharp price jumps, raising fears of speculative trading.
On the DSE floor, gainers outnumbered losers by a wide margin, with 309 stocks advancing against 41 decliners, while 38 remained unchanged. Orion Infusion emerged as the most-traded stock, followed by Square Pharmaceuticals, City Bank, Asiatic Laboratories and Beximco Pharma.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also returned to positive territory, with its broad index CASPI rising 339 points to 14,261 and the CSCX climbing 208 points to 8,830. Turnover on the port city bourse stood at Tk 582 million for the week.
