Dhaka's stock market rose for a second straight session on Wednesday, and the money coming in from Bangladeshis abroad kept its strong pace. The DSEX closed at 5,445.06, up 8.32 points, or 0.15 percent, after gaining 43.92 points to 5,436.74 on Tuesday. Turnover rose 15.1 percent to Tk 757.70 crore, from Tk 658.50 crore, the highest in seven weeks. The market is still thin in absolute terms, and caution remains, but two gains in a row after a two-session slip is the follow-through investors were waiting for.
The driver, according to the market report, was regulatory relief. The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission extended relief for capital-market intermediaries, and bargain hunting in battered shares continued. The same forces that pulled the market up on Tuesday were at work on Wednesday. For households with savings earmarked for a flat, the message is modest: the market has steadied, but it has not yet turned into a run.
Remittance keeps its pace
Remittance reached $1,409 million in the first ten days of November, up 27.1 percent from $1,109 million in the same period last year, according to Bangladesh Bank data. The tenth of November alone brought in $126 million. For the current financial year so far, from 1 July to 10 November, remittance stands at $12.874 billion, up 14.4 percent from $11.258 billion a year earlier. Gross foreign exchange reserves stood at $34.99 billion on 10 November, with the BPM6 measure at $30.12 billion.
That money matters for housing. A large share of the flats booked in Dhaka each month is paid for, in full or in part, with money sent home by family members working abroad. A strong remittance month is, in practical terms, a strong booking month for developers, and the November figures suggest the flow is holding up well into the winter.
Exports and inflation
Exports reached $3.99 billion in October, up 4.39 percent from a year earlier, according to Export Promotion Bureau data. Garments carried the load, as usual, at $3.17 billion for the month. For the July to October period, exports stand at about $17.04 billion. The export figure gives the economy a steady base, and for factory towns it means jobs that support rents and home purchases.
Inflation eased to 8.27 percent in October, from 8.34 percent in September, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data released on 9 November. Food inflation fell to 6.40 percent, its lowest in 54 months, while non-food inflation rose to 9.89 percent, its highest in 41 months. Wage growth slowed to 7.63 percent, below inflation. The split is the story: the kitchen budget is easing, but housing, utilities and transport, the costs that sit next to rent and loan instalments, are rising fastest.
What else moved
Standard Chartered Bangladesh's retail-business sale drew backers away, according to a Daily Star report. BRAC Bank, Pubali Bank and MTB have stepped back, and only City Bank has signed a non-disclosure agreement so far. The sale is a watch item for the banking sector, and for the home-loan market, since a change of owner can change how a bank lends.
At the ICCB, six expos opened today and run to 14 November: Build Bangladesh, the Real Estate Expo, Power Bangladesh, Solar Bangladesh, Dhaka Lighting and Water Bangladesh. More than 200 companies from over 20 countries are exhibiting, with 500 booths and 20,000 visitors expected. For a flat buyer, the expos are a chance to see materials, lifts, solar panels and finishing products in one place before committing to a purchase.
Read together, the day's numbers point in the same direction. Stocks have steadied. Money from abroad is strong. Exports are growing. Inflation is easing on food, even as housing costs rise. None of this is a boom. It is a market finding its footing, and for a family planning a home purchase, that is a better place to start from than a market in free fall.
Read the DSE recovery story for the detail behind the two-session gain. The October exports report has the full trade picture. And the home-loan cost guide shows what today's rates mean for a monthly instalment.
