Stocks jump as investors beat worries over Covid-19 surge

DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), exceeded the threshold of 7,000-mark yesterday as the investors overcame worries regarding the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the country.

"The investors' optimism regarding the bourse continued as they believe that the economy would not be too affected in the latest wave of the pandemic," said EBL Securities in their daily market commentary.

"Though the market observed a profit-booking sell pressure in the late session, most of the large-cap stocks stood in a firm position on the trading board supported by active participation of institutional investors," the commentary added.

On Tuesday, the DSEX increased 54.99 points or 0.78% to 7,049 points and the blue-chip index surged 0.77% to close at 2,626 points.

It was a big day for the state-run companies, especially Power Grid Company, Eastern Cable, National Tubes, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Usmania Glass, Titas Gas, and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company. Stock prices of these companies gained substantially in the second half of the session as the profit-making firms attracted more investors.

Besides, the DSE witnessed an increased participation of investors, which boosted the daily turnover by 33% to Tk1,977 crores.

Fuel-power, engineering, and miscellaneous sectors made the largest contribution to the daily turnover.

Yesterday, most of the sectors at the DSE displayed satisfactory performance. Among them, ceramics, paper, and mutual fund sectors gained the maximum – 6.9%, 4.4% and 2.5% respectively.

Life insurance, tannery, and jute sectors suffered a moderate correction yesterday.

Out of the 382 issues traded at the DSE, 189 advanced, 146 declined, and 47 remained unchanged.

CASPI, the main index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange, surged 189 points to close at 20,667 on Tuesday, with Tk62.7 crores in daily turnover.