Stock Market Sees Uptick in Weekly Trading After Two Months

After two months of sluggish activity, the country’s primary stock market, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), has shown some positive movement in its weekly trading. In the week from 26 to 30 October, despite a decline in the indices and the fall in most share prices, the overall trading volume rose by almost 7%.

According to market analysis, the total turnover on the DSE in the week ending 4 September was BDT 6,491.73 crore, reflecting a 13.30% increase compared to the previous week’s turnover of BDT 5,729.56 crore. However, after that week, the turnover started to decline. In the following week (7-11 September), trading stood at BDT 5,748.31 crore, and in the week after (14-18 September), it dropped further to BDT 3,505.33 crore. The week of 21-25 September saw a turnover of just BDT 2,918.83 crore, and during the Durga Puja holiday (28-30 September), trading fell sharply to BDT 1,860.32 crore.

In October, trading continued its downward trend. From 5 to 9 October, the total turnover stood at BDT 3,285.64 crore, which was lower than the average daily turnover of the previous week. The following week (12-16 October) saw the turnover drop further to BDT 2,611.12 crore, and from 19 to 23 October, the trading volume fell by 18.09%, reaching BDT 2,138.71 crore. However, in the week from 26 to 30 October, trading volume increased by BDT 148.15 crore or nearly 7%, reaching BDT 2,286.86 crore, compared to the previous week.

Looking at the weekly market price movements, the DSE saw trading in 392 companies’ shares and mutual fund units. Of these, 177 companies saw their prices rise, 179 experienced price declines, and the share prices of 36 companies remained unchanged.

Despite the drop in most share prices, all the indices on the DSE ended the week lower. The main index, the DSEX, fell by 28 points to close at 5,122 points. The DSE-30 index dropped by 11 points to 1,988 points, while the DSE-SHARE index fell by 6 points to 1,083 points.

Even with the decline in the indices, trading volume increased on the DSE last week. The average daily turnover for the week stood at BDT 457.37 crore, up from BDT 427.74 crore the previous week. As a result, the daily trading volume increased by BDT 29.63 crore or 6.93% compared to the previous week.

The market capitalization of the DSE also saw a slight increase, rising by BDT 5,796 crore or 0.82% compared to the previous week. At the end of the week on Thursday, the DSE’s market capitalisation stood at BDT 6,99,547 crore, down from BDT 7,05,343 crore the previous week.

On the other hand, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw a decline in its key indices over the week. The main index, the CASPI, dropped by 0.88%, and the CSCX index fell by 0.78%, closing at 14,286 points and 8,813 points, respectively. Additionally, the CSI index dropped by 0.98% to 899 points, and the CSE-50 index decreased by 1.37% to 1,090 points. The CSE-30 index fell by 0.60%, closing at 12,651 points.

During the week, 306 companies’ shares and mutual fund units were traded on the CSE. Of these, 115 companies saw price increases, 170 experienced declines, and 21 remained unchanged.

Total turnover on the CSE for the week was BDT 98.24 crore, which was up from BDT 67.60 crore the previous week. This represents an increase of BDT 30.64 crore in weekly trading volume.