Stocks rebounded strongly on Wednesday, with a turnover crossing Tk 12 billion-mark on the major bourse after four-month, as bargain hunters put fresh stakes on stocks amid optimism.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 34.80 points or 0.68 per cent to settle at 5,133, after losing more than 16 points in the previous day.
Market operators said spontaneous participation backed by high expectations lured the investors to take positions on the large-cap stocks, taking the market turnover nearly four-month high.
Factors like lower returns on the money market amid liquidity glut, hope for Covid-19 vaccine and strong regulatory actions against wrongdoers prompted sideline investors to put fresh funds on stocks, they said.
The rally has been largely supported by high market liquidity and fundamentally strong stocks like banking, power, non-bank financial institutions and telecom sector stocks, said a merchant banker.
Top positive index contributors of the market were United Power, Beximco, LafargeHolcim, Beximco Pharma and Square Pharma, according to data from amarstock.com, a stock market data analyst.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also crossed Tk 12 billion-mark, after four months since September 13 this year and amounted to Tk 12.44 billion, climbing by 27 per cent over the previous day.
Investors’ participation was lively as many bargain hunters took position on selective issues amid year-end dividend expectations, said a leading broker.
However, the debut of Robi, the largest ever issue on Thursday and Mir Akther IPO subscription triggered the sell-offs in early trading, he said.
Two other indices also ended higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, soared 23.70 points to finish at 1,836 and the DSE Shariah Index rose 8.30 points to close at 1,186.
Losers, however, took a modest lead over the gainers, as out of 354 issues traded, 169 ended lower, 94 higher and 91 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 207,097 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 353.27 million shares and mutual fund units.
The DSE market–cap, however, dropped to Tk 4,126 billion on Wednesday, from Tk 4,130 billion in the previous day.
Beximco continued to dominate the turnover chart with 33.80 million shares worth Tk 1.35 billion changing hands, followed by Beximco Pharma, LafargeHolcim, IFIC Bank and Republic Insurance.
Shinepukur Ceramic was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Shympur Sugar Mills was the worst loser, losing 6.51 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—soaring 90 points to close at 14,744 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX rising 57 points to close at 8,890.
Of the issues traded, 136 declined, 76 advanced and 64 remained unchanged on the CSE. The port city bourse traded 15.37 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of more than Tk 520 million.
