Sheikh Hasina's resignation as prime minister has brought an end to three weeks of deadlock in the country, offering much-needed relief to the public.This relief was immediately reflected in the stock markets, with share prices of nearly all listed companies seeing significant gains when trading began at 10:00am on Tuesday.
Both Dhaka and Chattogram stock exchanges experienced the same trend.
However, despite the overall market surge, shares of companies owned by Sheikh Hasina's adviser, Salman F Rahman, saw a decline. IFIC Bank shares followed the same trend.
In an effort to quell the unrest, the outgoing government declared a general holiday until Wednesday. However, after Sheikh Hasina handed over power to the army and left the country, the army announced that all public and private offices, including banks, would remain open on Monday. As a result, stock market trading resumed at its usual time today.
By the end of the first hour of trading, 87 per cent of the shares of 360 companies and 37 mutual funds listed on the main stock market, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), had risen. Conversely, 10 per cent of shares were trading at a loss.
Among the bullish stocks, the 75-day circuit breaker was triggered, with shares trading at the highest allowable rate (up to 10 per cent). Most shares saw strong buyer demand, creating zero selling positions at or near the circuit breaker limit.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), the country's second stock market, displayed a similar trend.
The surge in share prices also led to a substantial rise in the stock market index. By 11:00am, the DSE's main price index, DSEX, had climbed 186 points to reach 5,415 points, reflecting a growth rate of 3.56 per cent. Within just 12 minutes of trading, the index had surged by 251 points, or 4.81 per cent, to reach 5481 points compared to the previous day.
In contrast to Thursday's trading, where only Tk 207 crore worth of shares were traded over four and a half hours, the same amount was traded within the first half-hour of trading today. By the end of the first hour, Tk 384 crore worth of shares had been traded on the Dhaka stock market.
Despite the overall market uptrend, shares of companies owned by Sheikh Hasina’s private industry and investment adviser Salman F Rahman, including IFIC Bank, Beximco Pharma, and Shinepukur Ceramics, declined. However, Beximco Limited's floor price remained in effect, preventing a further drop. At the Dhaka Stock Exchange, 1,370 investors were looking to sell shares worth around Tk 100 crore, but there were no buyers.