Last week will certainly remain memorable for the stock market, with its indexes reaching record levels every day while market capitalisation a historical high over the five-day period.
The very first day of trade was marked by the DSEX, the benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), reaching 7,000 points, the first time it has done so since being launched in 2013.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel. There was no sign of profit booking, rather the index soared 277 points, or around 4 per cent in the last five sessions.
The positive side of the market was that people poured money into many good profit-making companies, for which some of them ended up in the top turnover and gainers’ list, said a stock broker.
Beximco Ltd topped the turnover list, followed by British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Limited, Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Square Pharmaceuticals Limited and Saif Powertec Limited, shows the DSE data.
Libra Infusion Ltd gained the most, rising 39 per cent, followed by Pharma Aids Limited, Eastern Lubricants Ltd, Agricultural Marketing Company Limited (Pran), and Apex Footwear Limited.
Over the past few weeks, the index had risen by some 10 per cent, with advances being made mostly by companies with poor performance records and those with capital of small amounts. Growth of companies with good performance records was slow, said the stock broker.
The trend was slightly the opposite last week, which means people are choosing good stocks on seeing that the index was at an all-time high. “It’s a good decision,” he said.
Good stocks never disappoint if those can be held onto for a long time, he added.
About the continuous rise, a merchant banker said people were optimistic about the market, for which it continued to soar last week without undergoing any drop.
However, sector-wise profit booking was witnessed but it failed to pull down the index, he said, adding that each day of the week saw the indexes crossing previous highs.
So it should be a memorable week for investors, he added.
As peoples’ participation was also higher in the market, many were ready to make purchases, so it did not fall, he added.
The DSE witnessed an average daily turnover of Tk 2,777 crore last week, which was Tk 2,234 crore in the preceding one, shows the DSE data.
Among all the sectors, tannery topped the charts with a 15 per cent gain followed by food and allied, services and real estate, and paper and printing. Only general insurance dropped, by 3.66 per cent, according to LankaBangla Securities Limited data.
Market capitalisation of the DSE soared 4 per cent to Tk 586,318 crore, the highest in the DSE’s history, at the end of the five days from what was in the previous week.
