The equities benchmark index bounced back in the week to Thursday after four consecutive weeks of losses as the Dhaka bourse tried to recover from sell-off with the increased participation of investors.
This week saw all the five trading days end higher and the market turnover also went up as the listed securities witnessed price appreciation across the sectors.
Among the major sectors, general insurance saw the highest gain on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
Week on week, the benchmark DSEX index jumped 213.55 points or 0.32 per cent to settle 6451.53 on Thursday. In the previous four weeks, the DSEX shed a total of 424 points.
On the first day of this week, The DSEX saw a sharp rise of 130 points. Analysts attributed this sharp rise to market-supportive measures put in place by the regulators to halt the free fall of the market.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) extended the credit facilities setting the fresh margin loan ration at 1:1.
The securities regulator also reduced the lower circuit limit of the bourses to 2.0 per cent.
The companies which played pivotal role in pulling up the broad index include Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Square Pharmaceuticals, IFIC Bank, Olympic Industries, National Bank, IPDC Finance and Orion Pharma.
Two other DSE indices also closed higher -- the Shariah-based DSES index ended at 1415.72, gaining 3.06 per cent or 42.01 points while the blue-chip DS30 index rose 2.09 per cent or 48.30 points to finish at 2355.68.
Of the 393 issues traded, 356 advanced and 22 declined while nine others remained unchanged. Six issues were not traded on the premier bourse this week.
The market capitalization on the DSE stood at Tk 5.20 trillion on Thursday, up 2.42 per cent from the previous week.
During the week, the premier bourse posted a daily average turnover of Tk 7.85 billion, which was 28.55 per cent higher than in the previous week.
According to a market review of EBL Securities, indices of the Dhaka bourse witnessed five consecutive positive sessions as the regulatory initiatives encouraged investors to increase their participation in the market.
"However, macroeconomic vulnerabilities such as high inflation, growing trade deficit, falling currency value etc. looms large over the continuation of the current upward momentum of the market," it said.
Of the sectors which saw price appreciation, general insurance gained 9.4 per cent, life insurance 8.3 per cent, textile 6.3 per cent, banking sector 2.6 per cent, pharmaceuticals and chemicals 2.4 per cent, engineering 2.2 per cent, fuel and power 1.9 per cent and telecommunications 0.8 per cent.
Investors' participation was concentrated mostly on pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector which accounted for 14.5 per cent of the weekly market turnover, followed by miscellaneous (13.5 per cent), textile (11.5 per cent) and financial institutions (10.7 per cent).
Beximco topped the weekly turnover chart with a value of over Tk 2.5 billion.
Rahima Food Corporation was the week's top gainer, rising 32.01 per cent to close at Tk 296.90 each, while EXIM Bank was the worst loser, shedding 7.4 per cent to close at Tk 11.20 each.
