Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh stocks rebounded strongly last week after a five-week rout, potentially signalling an end to the downward trend, as bargain hunters came out of the sidelines to snap up beaten-down stocks.
Satisfactory earnings reports as well as regulatory moves to restore stability in the market contributed to the index's recovery, market operators said.
Besides, higher-than-expected earnings and dividend declarations from some companies, along with a move to provide liquidity support through the ICB, helped stimulate investor sentiment.
As a result, the last three sessions of the week closed higher, recovering all the losses from the first two days of last week.
Substantial price surge of large-cap stocks, including blue chips, helped the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), surged almost 85 points or 1.66 per cent to settle the week at 5,199, after losing 616 points in the past five straight weeks.
Last week, BDT 85 billion was added to the market cap, which shed BDT 365 billion in the past five consecutive weeks. The market cap now stands at BDT 6,653 billion.
Seven large-cap stocks -- Brac Bank, Walton, British American Tobacco, Robi, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, LankaBangla Finance and City Bank -- together accounted for 60 points of the index's rise during the week, according to EBL Securities.
BRAC Bank achieved an impressive 70 per cent year-on-year growth in profit, reaching BDT 4.2 billion for July-September quarter this year, while profits for the nine-month period totalled BDT 10.1 billion.
Following the news, BRAC Bank's stock price jumped 9.10 per cent, contributing to a 15.7-point rise of the key index during the week.
Walton Hi-Tech Industries accounted for a 13.6-point rise of the weekly index, as the company posted a remarkable 73 per cent year-on-year growth in profit in FY'24, overcoming high inflation and macro-economic challenges.
Subsequently, the blue-chip DS30 index, a group of 30 prominent companies, jumped 47 points to close at 1,926. However, the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, saw a fractional loss of 0.89 points to 1,145.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, rose to BDT 28.83 billion this week, as against BDT 16.93 billion in the week before.
The average daily turnover reached BDT 4.16 billion, up 23 per cent from the previous week's average of BDT 3.38 billion.
Investors were mostly active in the banking sector, which accounted for 19 per cent of the week's total turnover, followed by the pharma sector (16.6 per cent) and food (10.8 per cent).
Most of the traded stocks saw price appreciation, as out of 395 issues traded, 279 advanced, 101 declined and 15 remained unchanged.
Most of the major sectors posted gains with mutual funds seeing the highest gain of 10 per cent, followed by engineering, food, power, and pharmaceuticals.
Lovello Ice-cream was the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 635 million changing hands, closely followed by Brac Bank, Islami Bank, Fareast Knitting & Dyeing and IBN Sina Pharma.
On the other hand, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also rebounded, with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) recovering 140 points to settle at 14,442 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) gaining 74 points to 8,779.
BBN/SSR/AD