Stocks rally as investors shrug off 2nd Covid wave fears

Dhaka stocks rallied amid continued volatility on Wednesday as investors shrugged off fears of a new strain of coronavirus that could spread more rapidly.

The market moved between red and green in the first session before closing higher, pulled up mainly by general insurers, cement, energy and ceramic stocks.

After moderate losses in the previous two sessions, the DSEX rose over 34 points or 0.68 percent to settle at 5,133, hitting a low of 5,087 and a high of 5,134.

Among other indices, the DSES gained 8 points or 0.70 percent to 1,186 and blue-chip DS30 moved up 23 points or 1.3 percent to 1,836.

The market’s volatility came amid concerns of a new strain of coronavirus that could spread more rapidly, forcing some countries to cancel international flights and restrict movements.

However, the market rebounded as investors took some comforts from the news that the government has no plan to impose another lockdown to curb second wave of coronavirus.

“The economic situation of the country is under solid footing as the coronavirus situation is under control here,” said Health Minister Zahid Maleque recently.

Participation in trading increased significantly as the turnover stood at over Tk 1,244 crore, which is highest since September 13 this year when it was Tk 1,329 crore and more than 27 percent higher over the previous session.

The market’s bellwether banking stocks stopped their losses as the sector moved up slightly 0.11 percent while all other major sectors including engineering, food and allied, jute and textile moved down moderately.

However, losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 355 issues traded, 170 closed negative, 94 positive and 91 remained unchanged.

Shinepukur Ceramics shined rising 10 percent without any fundamental reasons while Shayampur Sugar Mills was the worst performer falling 6.51 percent due to its production suspension.

GQ Ball Pen Industries came second as the worst performer dropping 6.8 Percent after the company reported its negative earnings widened further.

Beximco Ltd — the flagship company of Beximco Group, continued to remain the most traded issue, followed by Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh Ltd, IFIC Bank, Republic Insurance, Orion Pharmaceuticals, Rupali Insurance, BSCCL, Fortune Shoes and Square Pharmaceuticals.