Dhaka stocks rally after a tense week

Dhaka stocks rallied substantially yesterday riding on investors' confidence after a week of political uncertainty surrounding the verdict of a graft case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The broad index, DSEX, gained 128.33 points, or 2.15 percent, to close at 6,093.95. Daily turnover also rose 51.5 percent to Tk 455.45 crore amid a buying spree from institutional and individual investors.

Investors have overcome the fear of the political uncertainty, said Md Sayedur Rahman, a former president of the Bangladesh Merchant Banks Association.

Investors took to buying to avail the opportunity of purchasing shares at low prices, he said.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) had remained volatile for a week over the verdict. On February 4, the DSEX lost 133.15 points, the biggest fall in more than four years as political unease loomed large on investors' minds.

Former prime minister Khaleda Zia was jailed for five years in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8. Before the verdict was announced, the whole country was on edge. No major incident took place thanks to tight security measures taken by the government.

The country's premier bourse kept riding on the momentum amidst positive expectations from opportunity-seeking investors, said EBL Securities in its market analysis.

It said the core index remained upward throughout the session and investors kept buying fresh stocks in the hope of taking a position in the undervalued stocks.  Thus, the market participation increased amidst the active presence of the investors from both sides of the fence, EBL Securities said.

All the major large-cap sectors registered positive movements, with banking stocks posting a 3.08 percent gain. A total of 113,364 trades were executed.

On the DSE, 293 securities gained, 27 declined and 14 remained unchanged. The DS30 and the DSES indexes were 30.34 and 22.83 points up respectively.

The port city bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange, also ended in the positive territory. The CSCX and the CASPI indexes rose 235.72 and 395.97 points respectively.