DSE sees highest turnover in a decade

Despite interruptions in trading due to software problems, turnover of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) was the highest in a decade at the end of Tuesday's session.

DSE turnover was Tk2,546.82 crore, which was 16% higher than the previous day.

The previous highest transaction, Tk2,711 crore, took place on 6 December, 2010. On 28 June last year, turnover reached Tk2,543 crore when Unilever bought GlaxoSmithKline shares in a block transaction.

Despite the highest turnover, DSEX, the main index of the DSE, nosedived after an eight-day sky-high momentum due to late-hour profit booking by investors.

"The new year in the stock market started with a big rise in indices and transactions. In the first two working days, DSEX increased by 250 points. So, there were some price corrections today," said a senior official of a brokerage firm.

The market witnessed a sharp rise in the early trading hours as investors were pouring in fresh funds amid optimism, but the late-hour bearish vibe took over the upward trend and wiped out around 184 points. DSEX settled at 5,610 points with a setback of 0.75% or 42.62 points in the end.

Port city bourse Chattogram Stock Exchange's (CSE) main index CASPI fell by 0.82% or 134 points to settle at 16,237.

An official at one of the leading brokerage firms said many investors opted for booking profits on sector-wise large-cap stocks as news of the vaccine export ban spooked investors.

Robi, the newly listed telecom company, dominated the turnover board and contributed up to 10.09% of the total turnover. Its share price rose by 9.75% to Tk39.40 each.

The DSE sent a notice to the company, asking it to explain the recent unusual price hike. Robi replied that there was no undisclosed price sensitive information behind the hike.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals and Beximco Limited secured second and third position, respectively, on the turnover chart. However, their share prices dropped by 7.33% and 6.09%, respectively, due to uncertainties over the import of novel coronavirus vaccines.

India banned vaccine exports recently, but Beximco Pharmaceuticals signed an agreement with the Serum Institute of India to import three crore doses of the vaccine on 5 November last year.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals officials said that they would get the vaccine on time and the drug administration also approved the company to import vaccines on Monday.

Meanwhile, banks, the sectoral giant, led the early upsurge in the index and witnessed the highest return at the DSE owing to year-end dividends and corporate declarations.

Investors saw the highest returns of 3.5% from the banking sector, followed by telecoms, mutual funds, and the fuel and power sector.

Four banks – Social Islami Bank, United Commercial Bank, National Bank, and Rupali Bank – were on the list of top 10 gainers at the DSE. Crystal Insurance secured the top position on the list. Its share price rose by 9.87% to Tk52.30 each.

The performance of most of the sectors waned. Jute (4.8%), cement (4.5%) and general insurance (4.2%) yielded the most negative returns.

Seven non-banking financial institutions – Premier Leasing, GSP Finance, Union Capital, United Finance, FAS Finance, Fareast Finance and Prime Finance – were on the list of top 10 losers.

Some investors said these institutions' share prices had increased in the last few days and that is why traders sold those shares to book quick profits.

Shinepukur Ceramics topped the list of losers. Its share prices fell by 9.88% to Tk31 each.

Out of the 360 issues traded at the DSE, 113 advanced, 197 declined and 50 remained unchanged.