Floor price lifting drives DSE turnover to hit 16-month high at Tk1,580cr

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) experienced a significant rise in investors' participation on Sunday, with market turnover surpassing Tk1,500 crore milestone after a span of 16 months, supported by the withdrawal of floor price.  

On the day, the turnover soared by 40.8% to Tk1,580 crore on Sunday compared to the previous session.

Besides, the DSE's benchmark index, DSEX, rose 66 points to reach 6,280 with the blue-chip DS30 advancing 7 points to 2,124.

Out of total traded scrips, 321 advanced, 44 declined and 30 remained unchanged.

Market insiders say the DSE turnover reached Tk1,500 crore mark for the first time after the removal of floor price of listed companies and mutual funds.

"Investors' participation in the market increased due to the lifting of the floor price. They have become more active in the market, especially since the share prices have moved upwards in the last few days, pushing up transactions and indices," Shakil Rizvi, a director at the DSE and the managing director of Shakil Rizvi Stock Ltd, told The Business Standard. 

However, amid this surge in market indices and transactions, the price spirals for some bad company shares are spreading concern among the investors. 

Shares of fundamentally weak and loss incurring companies like Khan Brothers PP Woven and Khulna Printing have experienced abnormal surges in the last few months, but the regulator is yet to take any visible action against them.  

Rizvi said the share prices of closed and loss-making companies has risen abnormally without any reasons, adding that this situation raises fear of market manipulation. 

 "If a small group is responsible for the manipulation, it is possible to take actions against them, but it will be a tough job when a sizeable portion of investors are involved with the manipulation," he explained.  

Therefore, when a share price moves abnormally, the stock exchange and the regulator can alert investors regarding the unusual activity surrounding that particular company, he suggested. 

In its daily market commentary, EBL Securities said, "Dhaka stocks charged up in the first session of the week, riding on strong buying behavior across the trading board owing to heightened optimism among investors since they perceived lucrative investment opportunities in the market following the recent corrections."

Buyers remained predominant throughout the session as investors opted to take fresh positions in equities considering the persistently upbeat vibe in the market, it added. 

On the sectoral front, engineering stocks contributed the highest 15.9% to the day's turnover, followed by textile adding 12%, and general insurance adding 11.5%.

All of the sectors exhibited positive returns, with both jute and ceramic posting the highest price appreciation of 5.7% followed by 4.4% gain posted by general insurance. 

At the DSE, the top three most traded stocks were Fu Wang Food, Khulna Printing and Packaging, Fortune Shoes. 

Kattali Textile was the top gainer with a price appreciation of 10%, which was followed by Nurani Dyeing, Bd Finance, Aman Cotton, Peoples Insurance and Titas gas. 

On the other hand, Jute Spinners was the day's top loser suffering a 5.83% correction, followed by Aramit Cement, Aftab Auto and Beacon Pharma.

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange also finished positive on Sunday. The selected index -CSCX - advanced 1.21% to 10,683 points, while all share price index - CASPI - gained 1.24% to reach 17,844 points.