DSE turnover surges 30% as stocks see the second winning week

Having the broad-based index DSEX dipped below the 6,200 mark later last month, Dhaka stocks saw two consecutive weeks of recovery throughout Thursday.

As more investors opted for short-term trading opportunities, turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) surged by 30% to the daily average of Tk596 crore.

"The benchmark index of the capital bourse extended its gaining streak for the second consecutive week as investor optimism somewhat rebounded surrounding the recent approval of the second tranche of the IMF loan that enticed opportunistic investors to chase quick rallies in particular stocks, prompted by the allure of potential quick gains," wrote EBL Securities in its weekly market commentary.

"However, overall investor sentiment still remains subdued, as cautious investors remain engaged in a profit-booking sell frenzy owing to shaky confidence regarding the market momentum," it added.

Following the 0.47% gain in the previous week, DSEX advanced by 14.3 points, or 0.23%, to close the week at 6,267 points.

Investors were mostly active in the engineering sector, followed by the pharmaceutical and textile sectors, whose contributions to the total weekly turnover were 18.8%, 15.6%, and 9.7%, respectively.

Sectors ended in a mixed-gains scenario, with the general insurance sector generating the highest 1.9% return while the travel and leisure sector led the losers as its market capitalization decreased by 5.2% in a week.

The dominant trends in speculative stocks continued over the week, while blue-chip stocks lost momentum after a short-lived recovery in the previous week.

Olympic Accessories, which generated a stunning 47% return in five trading sessions, topped the weekly gainers table, followed by Anlima Yarn Dyeing, Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries, Pacific Denims, and Western Marine Shipyard, whose stock prices increased by more than 21%.

The blue-chip index DS30 fell by 0.38% last week to 2,107. On the other hand, the Shariah Index (DSES) advanced by 0.29% to 1,364.

The floor price continued to remain the worry of majority investors as most of the listed scrips had no buyer at or above the floor prices the securities regulator imposed at the end of July 2022.

While the blue-chip stocks were either under selling pressure or stuck at floor prices, investors' participation was significantly concentrated among the trendy speculative scrips, mostly the shares of troubled companies.

Central Pharmaceuticals, Olympic Accessories, Khulna Printing, Pacific Denims, and Fu-Wang Ceramics were the top five stocks in terms of turnover last week.

Blue-chip stocks' share in total market capitalization on the Dhaka bourse declined to 22.91% on Thursday, up from 22.98% a week ago. The same number of multinational firms inched down to 15.34% from 15.36% in the previous week.

The weighted average price-to-earnings ratio of the scrips listed on the DSE increased to 14.82 from 14.57 a week ago. Analysts say the lower the ratio, the cheaper stocks are assumed to be.