DSEX hits near two-year high as reform hopes spark liquidity surge
The benchmark index crossed the 5,900-point mark for the first time in nearly two years.
Highlights:
- DSEX closes above 5,900 after 22 months
- Market cap rises Tk7,000cr in a week
- Reform optimism boosts investor confidence
- Daily turnover climbs to Tk1,474cr
The country's premier bourse maintained its robust recovery for another week as the benchmark index successfully reclaimed the psychological 5,900-point threshold for the first time in 22 months.
Driven by high expectations of market-friendly regulatory reforms and a significant spike in liquidity, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) saw its market capitalisation swell by Tk7,000 crore over the last five trading sessions.
The benchmark DSEX index gained 96 points, or 1.65%, to settle the week at 5,900. This marks the highest closing for the broad index since August 2024. The blue-chip DS30 index also mirrored the bullish trend, advancing by 49 points to close at 2,227.
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Market breadth remained in favour of the bulls, with 216 issues posting gains against 155 decliners, while 18 scrips remained unchanged.
According to the weekly market review by EBL Securities, the rally was underpinned by sustained investor confidence in a series of capital market development initiatives and a constructive near-term outlook. The week opened on a strong note, fueled by optimism over potential revisions to margin loan rules and measures to enhance market velocity through faster trade settlement cycles and the introduction of scrip netting (intraday trading) facilities. These factors pushed the daily turnover above the Tk1,600 crore mark during the peak of the week's trading.
Market participation saw a healthy rise, with the daily average turnover increasing by 6.58% to reach Tk1,474 crore, compared to Tk1,383 crore in the previous week.
Analysts at Sheltech Brokerage Limited noted that the performance was primarily dictated by investors' continued buying interest, particularly in blue-chip stocks. Although a bout of profit-taking emerged during the final session of the week, it only served to moderate the gains rather than derail the recovery momentum, as buying conviction remained resilient across the floor.
On the sectoral front, trading activity was most concentrated in the general insurance and textile sectors, each accounting for 13.3% of the total weekly turnover, followed by the pharmaceutical sector at 10.6%.
In terms of returns, the cement sector emerged as the star performer with a 7.1% gain, followed by mutual funds and the tannery sector, both rising by 5%.
Conversely, the information technology sector faced a correction of 2.0%, while the paper and travel sectors also saw marginal declines.
Individual stock performance was highlighted by Renwick Jajneswar, which led the gainers' list with a 27.3% price surge, followed by Sharp Industries and Golden Jubilee Mutual Fund.
On the liquidity front, Lovello Ice-cream, Malek Spinning, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, BRAC Bank, and LafargeHolcim Bangladesh were the most sought-after stocks of the week.
On the losing side, Sunlife Insurance faced the steepest decline, shedding 13.5%, followed by Shurwid Industries and Sonargaon Textile.
