Weekly analysis: Stocks keep marching higher

Stocks witnessed yet another bullish week that ended on Thursday, as enthusiastic investors continued to pour money into stocks amid improved market sentiment.

On a week-on-week basis, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), jumped 206.83 points or 3.70 per cent to close at 5,797.

In the previous week, DSEX had also added nearly 205 points or 3.80 per cent.

The prime index has already recovered a total of 411 points or 7.60 per cent in the New Year 2019 after losing 859 points or 14 per cent in 2018.

People familiar with the capital market developments said stocks maintained its post-election rally on a wave of investors' optimism for a better market, pushing the core index above the 5,700-mark.

Stable political situation after the elections, the high growth of operating profits of most listed banks coupled with the securities regulator's positive move on margin rules prompted the investors to take fresh position on stocks, said a leading broker.

"Local and foreign investors remained active on the trading floor as the peaceful election has boosted their confidence level," said a merchant banker.

The market is on its way to stability, he noted, adding that investors also booked profits from the market during the week.

According to City Bank Capital Resources, the bullish trend triggered by fresh funds injected into the market sustained amid growing confidence of the investors.

The week featured five trading sessions as usual -- three of them saw sharp gain but two others experienced mild correction.

The two other indices of DSE also spiked. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, ended 69.75 points higher to 2,011 while the DSE Shariah Index surged 47.30 points to close at 1,318.

The total turnover also shot up to Tk 49.25 billion this week, up from Tk 21.51 billion in the previous week that saw only three trading session instead of five.

The daily turnover averaged out at Tk 9.85 billion, registering an increase of 37 per cent over the previous week's average of Tk 7.17 billion.

The market capitalisation of the DSE also rose 3.19 per cent to Tk 4,105 billion, up from Tk 3,978 billion in the week before.

The financial institutions sector posted the highest gain of 7.20 per cent, closely followed by telecommunications (6.63 per cent), banking (4.79 per cent), food (3.23 per cent), power (2.70 per cent), pharmaceuticals (2.52 per cent) and engineering (2.24 per cent).

Gainers outpaced losers, as out of 347 issues traded, 261 advanced, 79 declined and seven issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.

BBS Cables dominated the turnover chart for the two consecutive weeks, with 11.46 million shares worth Tk 1.26 billion changing hands.

Other turnover leaders were Olympic Industries (Tk 1.10 billion), Brac Bank (Tk 1.04 billion), Beximco (Tk 925 million), and JMI Syringes & Medical Devices (Tk 913 million).

United Insurance emerged as the week's best performer for the two consecutive weeks, posting a gain of 41.61 per cent while Stylecraft was the biggest loser, shedding 12.15 per cent.

The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also maintained the upward trend, with its CSE All Share Price Index -- CASPI -- soaring 599 points or 3.49 per cent to settle at 17,765 and the Selective Categories Index -- CSCX -- climbing 359 points or 3.46 per cent to finish at 10,726.

[email protected]