Stocks continue bull run on new vaccine hopes

Highlights 

• DSEX rose by 1.16% to reach 5,498 points
• DSE total turnover increased by 35% to Tk1,188.86 crore
• CASPI gained by 0.91% to reach 15,867 points
• CSE turnover increased by 70% to Tk62.84 crore

Stocks continued on a bull run with a surging turnover in hope of new vaccine doses supposed to arrive soon, though coronavirus infection and death rates are still severely high.

Nevertheless, the government has eased the strict lockdown and allowed shops and shopping malls to reopen from 10am to 5pm amid the surging deaths and infections.

Dr Robed Amin, spokesperson for the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said Bangladesh will receive 1 lakh doses of the Pfizer BionTech Covid-19 vaccine from the global Covax programme in May.

Additionally, the Chinese government will gift six lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh as a token of appreciation, he added.

Dr Amin said talks are also underway to buy 10 crore vaccine doses from the GAVI vaccine alliance.

Furthermore, the government has signed an agreement with the Russian government for getting coronavirus vaccines.

A senior officer at a brokerage house said the new vaccine hopes have boosted the confidence of investors in buying shares.

EBL Securities said in its daily market commentary that investors see the capital market as a better investment opportunity than holding deposits with banks while interest rates are failing to offset the inflationary devaluation of money.

On top of that, many investors turned their focus on upcoming financial disclosures and put their cash into prospective stocks in expectations of capital gains.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has made it mandatory for banks to invest at least Tk200 crore in the capital markets if they want to raise money from stock investors.

The new condition will help the market with liquidity support, said a LankaBangla Securities market review.

These issues have helped stocks continue the bull run for the last nine days, where DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), gained 333 points.

On Sunday, the DSEX rose by 1.16% or 63 points to reach 5,498, the Shariah index increased by 1.48% to 1,255, and the blue-chip DS30 index gained 1.44% to hit 2,117 points.

On Sunday, DSE total turnover increased by 35% to Tk1,188.86 crore.

With the surging index, 201 company share prices advanced, while 78 company share prices declined, and 78 company share prices remain unchanged at the DSE.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange's (CSE) main index, CASPI, gained by 0.91% or 143 points to reach 15,867. The turnover increased by 70% to Tk62.84 crore.

Investors received the highest return of 3.9% from the service sector and the pharma sector saw a 2.7% return on new vaccine hopes.

The cement sector, which surged in the last several days, saw a price correction on Sunday.

However, Agrani Insurance secured the top position with 9.91% gains in share price on the top ten gainer list, while Keya Cosmetic was the biggest loser with a 5.26% share price fall at the DSE.

In the script-wise turnover chart, Beximco Limited secured the top position with a contribution of 9.9% to total DSE turnover.