Reading the share market: DSEX, DS30, DSES and turnover

Every afternoon the news says “DSEX up so many points, turnover so many crore taka”. Here is what those numbers tell you, and what they don’t. This guide only explains how to read the numbers; it is not investment advice.

Three indices

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) launched DSEX and DS30 on 28 January 2013, on a methodology designed by S&P Dow Jones Indices. The Shariah index, DSES, followed in January 2014.

DSEX and DS30 both count from a base date of 17 January 2008. DS30 starts at 1,000. DSEX starts at 2,951.91, the value of the old general index (DGEN) that day, so its history runs on from the older index. Mutual funds, debentures and bonds are not in any of the indices.

Each company’s weight in an index is its free-float market value: the total price of the shares actually available for trading. So a small move in a large company shifts the index more than a big move in a small one.

Turnover

Turnover is the total value of shares bought and sold in a day. DSE’s table gives it in million taka; 10 million is 1 crore, so divide by 10 for crore. On 4 November 2026, for example, DSE showed turnover of 5,222.87 million, about Tk 522 crore. bdrate.fyi’s share market page shows turnover in crore.

The index shows which way prices went; turnover shows how much trading stood behind the move, so read the two together. Turnover is not market capitalisation either: market cap values all listed shares, turnover only the part that changed hands that day.

One day, in points and percent

Closing values for 12 January 2026, as reported by the state news agency BSS (the previous day worked back from the change):

Percent change = change in points ÷ previous close × 100. For DSEX: 2.46 ÷ 4,939.60 × 100 ≈ 0.05%.

DS30 gained fewer points but more in percent, because its level is lower; a higher index shows more points for the same percentage move. So compare indices in percent. The share market page shows the change over the previous day, 7 days, 30 days and a year in both points and percent; the full record is on DSEX history.

Common misreadings

• The index rising doesn’t mean every share rose. On that same day DSEX went up, yet of the 393 companies traded, 140 rose, 175 fell and 78 were unchanged, and DSES fell. A few large companies gaining can lift the index while most shares fall.
• Turnover isn’t spread evenly. Often a handful of companies take a large share: in one week of August 2022, just 10 companies made up 29% of DSE’s turnover. Higher turnover need not mean more trading across the whole market.

Hours, the regulator and settlement

• Hours: trading runs Sunday to Thursday. The main session is 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, followed until 2:10 pm by trading at the closing price. Each share’s closing price is the weighted average of trades in the last 30 minutes of the main session, so it may differ from the day’s last trade. There is no trading, and so no data, on holidays; DSE publishes the year’s holiday list. Schedules change from time to time, so check DSE’s latest notice.
• Regulator: the market is regulated by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), set up on 8 June 1993. Its job includes protecting investors and regulating the stock exchanges.
• Settlement: shares are held electronically in the investor’s BO account at CDBL (Central Depository Bangladesh). As reported in June 2026, DSE runs a T+2 cycle: shares bought on Sunday reach the buyer’s BO account by Tuesday, when the seller’s broker is paid. Z-category shares take longer (T+3). Work towards T+1 is under way.

Sources

• DSE: DSEX and DS30 index methodology (PDF)
• DSE: DSES index methodology (PDF)
• DSE: holidays and trading sessions and FAQ
• DSE: recent market information and settlement
• BSEC: about
• BSS: market report for 12 January 2026
• The Financial Express: DSES launch, 10 firms, 29% of turnover, preparing for T+1