Weekly review: Growing optimism attracts investors


BABUL BARMAN | Published: September 19, 2020 10:22:06 | Updated: September 21, 2020 10:57:20


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Stocks witnessed yet another bullish week, extending the winning streak for 13 weeks in a row, as optimistic investors continued their buying binge on large-cap stocks amid high expectation.

Week-on-week, DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 93.36 points or 1.86 per cent to settle the week at 5,105, after hitting more than a year high.

The benchmark index surged a cumulative 1,144 points or 29 per cent in the past 13 consecutive weeks. The DSE market-cap also added Tk 752 billion during the period under review.

Market analysts said investors showed better confidence in the market behaviour in recent weeks riding on various measures taken by securities regulator to stablise the market and resumption of economic activities.

The Asian Development Bank's projection that Bangladesh's economy is expected to grow at a rate of 6.8 per cent in the current fiscal year, recovering from the severe adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic, also boosted investors' confidence, they said.

The investors anticipated the market would rise further due to huge fund flow to the financial market and faster economic recovery from stagnant situation than it was predicted before, said a merchant banker.

The market has been rising due mainly to the growing confidence as the new commission has taken various measures to stabilise the market and tough stance against wrongdoers, said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm.

The stock market regulator continued its tough stance on gamblers and came up with a number of conditions for junk stocks and slapped several companies with big fines as part of its efforts to be harsh on the wrongdoers.

The new commission has also taken some measures against errant directors of listed companies, strict stance on ensuring mandatory shareholding rules and cancelled some questionable IPO proposals.

Following such regulatory moves, the enthusiastic investors continued to show their buying appetite, especially for large-cap stocks, amid growing confidence on the market, said the stockbroker.

The daily turnover averaged Tk 11.27 billion last week which was Tk 10.58 billion in the previous week, registering an increase of 6.43 per cent.

The port city's bourse traded 88.93 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 1.75 billion during the week.

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