The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) staged a robust recovery yesterday, with the benchmark index gaining 41 points to settle at 5,898, just a fraction away from the psychological threshold of 5,900.

This rebound follows a brief period of corrective momentum and was primarily fuelled by renewed investor optimism regarding potential favourable revisions to the proposed margin lending rules, according to market insiders. 

Market participation saw a healthy spike as total turnover jumped by 17% to reach Tk1,129 crore, indicating that liquidity is flowing back into the secondary market with renewed vigour.

According to the daily market review by EBL Securities, the capital bourse maintained a firm upward trajectory from the opening bell. The surge was driven by sustained buying interest and strengthening investor participation, which led to broad-based price appreciation across the majority of traded scrips, it said.

A significant highlight of the day was the stabilisation of the insurance sector, which had faced heavy selling pressure in recent sessions, said EBL Securities. Investors appeared to be banking on potential regulatory easing regarding marginable criteria for insurers, while simultaneously rotating their interest toward non-bank financial institution (NBFI) stocks in anticipation of short-term gains, it added.

Sheltech Brokerage Limited noted that the session's performance was shaped by this renewed buying interest following the recent correction. Early momentum pushed the DSEX to an intraday high of 5,915.68 points. 

Although orderly profit-taking led to a moderate pullback in the mid-session, the underlying buying pressure remained sufficiently strong to absorb the sell-offs, allowing the benchmark index to ultimately retain most of its early gains, it said. 

The upcoming half-year earnings season is also serving as a psychological catalyst, prompting investors to take positions in fundamentally strong stocks, said Sheltech Brokerage.

On the sectoral front, the textile sector dominated market activity, accounting for 18.4% of the total turnover, followed by the pharmaceutical and banking sectors. 

Market breadth was overwhelmingly positive, with 294 issues advancing compared to only 58 that declined, while 41 remained unchanged. 

Almost all sectors posted positive returns, with mutual funds leading the gains at 4.5%, followed by financial institutions at 3.6% and the tannery sector at 2.4%. In contrast, only the services and pharmaceutical sectors faced marginal corrections of 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively.

Individual stock performance was highlighted by National Polymer, which topped the gainers' list with a 9.94% jump. It was followed by several mutual funds, including IFIC Bank 1st Mutual Fund, Exim Bank 1st Mutual Fund, and MBL First Mutual Fund, all of which saw robust price appreciation. 

On the liquidity front, Queen South Textile Mills emerged as the most-traded stock, followed by Malek Spinning, LankaBangla Finance, IPDC Finance, and Dragon Sweater. 

On the losing side, Islami Insurance and ACI Formulation were among the few scrips that faced notable corrections.

The bullish sentiment was mirrored at the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), where the key indices also settled in green territory. The broad CASPI index rose by 60 points to settle at 15,798, while the Selective Categories' Index (CSCX) gained 37 points. Trading activity at the port city bourse saw a significant 71% jump, reaching a turnover of Tk19 crore.