Investors focus on MNCs, blue chips in holiday-shortened week

 Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSEX) soared more than 126 points or 2.47 per cent to settle at 5,244 on Thursday, paring all the losses from the previous week. The DSEX lost a total of 548 points in the previous five weeks.

The market remained closed for the first three days on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.

Market analysts said most of the blue chips and multinational stocks were trading at historic low prices after sharp corrections since removal of the floor price. As investors with renewed appetite rushed in, high demand for these companies drove their share prices higher after a long time.

"The confident investors began picking some of their preferred stocks they considered cheaper now after sharp corrections," said a leading stockbroker.

When it comes to investing in well-performing stocks, institutional and foreigners are mostly interested in blue-chip stocks. These companies are well governed and have successfully maintained a profit growth even in adverse business environments.

Moreover, corporate disclosures of Linde Bangladesh and Renata attracted investors most which had a major contribution to the weekly index rise.

Linde's stock jumped an astounding 43 per cent on Thursday to Tk 1,409 following the company's board declaring a 1,540 per cent interim dividend for January-October of 2023.

During the two trading days, Linde's stock surged 48.6 per cent, becoming the week's top gainer, contributing a 15-point rise to the index.

Renata stock surged 9 per cent after it came up with a disclosure of the first shipment of drugs to the highly regulated market in the United Kingdom, accounting for around a 13-point rise of the index.

Other large-cap and multinational stocks such as Grameenphone, BAT Bangladesh, Square Pharma, Beximco Pharma, Walton, Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Bata Shoe, Heidelberg Cement and Marico also saw price appreciation.

The DS30 index, a group of 30 prominent companies, gained more than 54 points to close at 1,875, while the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, jumped 38 points to 1,146.

The market saw price appreciation of large-cap stocks as bargain hunters maintained their control across the trading floor and collected blue-chip companies' shares deemed to be trading at lucrative price levels, said EBL Securities.

All the financial sectors witnessed a positive performance this week. The general insurance booked the highest gain of 4.30 per cent, followed by mutual fund, non-bank financial institutions, life insurance, and banking sectors.

This week, the total turnover of the DSE dropped to Tk 7 billion, down from previous week's Tk 18.82 billion as this week saw only two trading days instead of regular five days.

Accordingly, the average daily turnover stood at Tk 3.50 billion, which was 7 per cent lower than the previous week's tally of Tk 3.76 billion.

A majority of the stocks saw price surge, as out of the 394 issues traded, 290 closed higher, 56 lower and 48 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

Asiatic Laboratories became the most-traded stocks, with shares worth Tk 220 million changing hands, closely followed by Sea Pearl Beach Resorts, Fareast Knitting, Unique Hotel & Resorts and Rupali Life Insurance.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher with its All Share Price Index (CASPI) soaring 240 points to 14,786 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) rising 151 points to 8,899.

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