DSE turnover drops below Tk 5b mark after six weeks

The daily trade turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell below the Tk 5 billion mark on Sunday after six weeks, as investor sentiment remained subdued due to prevailing concerns.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 4.81 billion on the country's premier bourse, down 9 per cent from the previous day's turnover of Tk 5.31 billion.

Market operators noted that investor participation remained low, driven by recent regulatory measures being executed as part of ongoing reform initiatives.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has decided to hold a series of meetings with stakeholders to draw up a roadmap for developing the country's capital market, starting today (Monday).

Last week, the stock exchange downgraded 28 companies to 'Z' category for non-compliance with the securities laws while the potential interest rate hikes due to further policy rate hike also affected investor sentiment.

However, the prime bourse on Sunday upgraded Energypac Power Generation to "B" category from "Z", a day after its downgrade, as it reported disbursement of 5 per cent cash dividend for FY23.

On Thursday, the stock exchanges had downgraded Energypac Power to 'Z' category, citing its failure to disburse approved dividends. After the news of category upgrade, its stock jumped 4.76 per cent to Tk 17.60 on Sunday.

The market opened higher and the benchmark index soared almost 60 points within the first hour of trading.

But, the rest of the session saw the early gains wiped out, as cautious investors preferred to take a wait-and-see approach considering the prevailing concerns regarding the market trend.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), finally went up nearly 19 points or 0.33 per cent to 5,658, after losing 97 points in the previous session.

The benchmark index managed to settle in green territory, driven by price appreciation of selective stocks, particularly Islami Bank, which added 16.4 points alone to the DSEX, according to EBL Securities.

Investors remained active on both sides of the trading fence, while buyers remained on the slightly dominant side owing to the continued buying interest in particular sector-specific stocks, said the stockbroker.

Apart from Islami Bank, Khan Brothers, Beximco Pharma, National bank and MJL Bangladesh also saw price appreciation, leading the market to close marginally higher.

These five stocks jointly accounted for 27-point rise in the prime index.

The DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, also gained 9 points to 1,271, riding on the Islami Bank. However, the blue-chip DS30 index, a group of 30 prominent companies, fell 2 points to 2,063.

The banking sector kept its dominance in the turnover chart, capturing 34 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by pharma with 12 per cent and telecommunication with 8 per cent.

Most of the large-cap sectors posted negative performance. The non-bank financial institution saw the highest loss of 1.13 per cent, followed by engineering (0.55 per cent), pharmaceuticals (0.52 per cent), telecom (0.36 per cent) and power (0.25 per cent).

On the other hand, banking and food sectors gained 0.63 per cent and 0.13 per cent respectively.

The losers, however, took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 397 issues traded, 205 declined, 153 advanced while 39 issues remained unchanged.

Grameenphone became the most-traded firm, with shares worth Tk 328 million changing hands, closely followed by Islami Bank, BRAC bank, MJL Bangladesh and SIBL

Khan Brothers was the top gainer with a rise of 9.63 per cent, while Kattali Textile was the top loser, shedding 16.54 per cent, following its 'poor' corporate declarations for three financial years at a time.

The board of Kattali Textile declared no dividends for FY22 and FY23 while recommending only 0.25 per cent cash dividend only for general shareholders excluding sponsors/directors for FY24.

he Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), however, edged lower with its All Share Price Index (CASPI) shedding 27 points to settle at 15,765 while the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) lost 4 points to close 9,567.

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