The banking sector was the single largest casualty of the March 9 DSE crash — down 4% in a session where the DSEX lost 209 points, its worst single-day fall since the COVID plunge of March 2020. Twenty-four hours later, the same sector was the single largest contributor to recovery — up 4.6%, commanding 25.5% of market turnover as 349 stocks advanced against just 16 decliners.
Same sector. Same stocks. Opposite directions. The difference was not new information. It was price.
Which Banks Hit Fundamental Floors
Not every banking stock that crashed on March 9 was trading below its value. But several were pushed below levels where institutional investors historically start accumulating.
The sector P/E ratio sat at 6.28x before the crash — already below the historical median of 7.29x. After March 9, the compression deepened further. Individual readings now span a wide range:
| Bank | P/E (Trailing) | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| JAMUNABANK | 4.00x | Deep value territory |
| PUBALIBANK | 4.06x | Deep value territory |
| SOUTHEASTB | 4.88x | Below sector average |
| CITYBANK | 4.94x | Below sector average |
| EBL | 5.45x | Moderate value |
| UTTARABANK | 5.48x | Moderate value |
| BANKASIA | 6.51x | Near sector average |
| DHAKABANK | 7.33x | Above sector median |
| BRACBANK | 9.72x | Premium to sector |
| DUTCHBANGL | 11.60x | Premium to sector |
Source: DSE P/E data as of latest available filing. Investors should verify current figures on dsebd.org.
Pubali Bank and Jamuna Bank traded at price-to-earnings multiples below 4.5x — levels that, in the Dhaka market, historically trigger value-driven institutional buying. The March 10 block trade data confirms this. Jamuna Bank appeared in block transactions at Tk 23.60 with 115,000 shares changing hands. Bank Asia moved 240,572 shares at Tk 23.70. EBL traded 89,760 shares at Tk 26.90.
Block trades at fixed prices during a rebound session are not retail bargain-hunting. They are institutional repositioning — money moving into specific names at specific price levels. The March 9 selloff pushed these banks to floors where fundamentals started to outweigh fear.
But not every bank that bounced on March 10 has found real support.
Where Vulnerability Persists
The banking sector carried a 35.73% aggregate NPL ratio into this crash — the highest in 25 years, with Tk 6.44 lakh crore in classified loans system-wide. That sector average disguises enormous dispersion. Banks with low NPLs and strong capital adequacy bounced on fundamentals. Banks with high NPLs bounced on short-covering — a very different dynamic with very different staying power.
Islami Bank trades at a P/E of 52.5x — not because the market is optimistic, but because earnings have collapsed relative to its share price. NRBC Bank carries a similar distortion at 52.89x. These elevated multiples signal compressed earnings, not growth premiums. When a bank’s trailing P/E is ten times the sector average, the question is not whether the stock is expensive. The question is whether the earnings base is sustainable at all.
BRAC Bank — the sector’s largest listed bank by market cap at Tk 15,200 crore — had already fallen 11.4% across the three sessions ending March 8 before March 9 added further pressure. At a trailing P/E of 9.72x, it is expensive relative to the sector but cheap relative to its own growth trajectory: first-half 2025 profit was up 53% year-on-year. The premium is earned. But at this multiple, there is less margin of safety if NPL contagion spreads to higher-quality names.
The divide is clear. Banks below 6x earnings with clean balance sheets — EBL, Pubali, Jamuna, City Bank — found genuine support. Banks above 10x with eroded earnings remain structurally exposed regardless of any single-day rebound.
What the Two-Day Whipsaw Reveals
The March 9-10 sequence was not a crash and recovery. It was a repricing event.
When turnover rose during the March 9 selloff, the market was not simply panicking. It was reassigning fair value under new assumptions — Qatar’s LNG suspension, rising import costs, the growing threat to Bangladesh’s energy supply chain. When the March 10 rebound produced an advance-decline ratio of nearly 22:1 and BDT 5.9 billion in turnover — a 42.7% increase over the previous session — the market was confirming that the reassignment had overshot for most names. Both sessions contained genuine price discovery.
For banking stocks specifically, the message is this: the sector entered the crash with valuations already below historical norms. The crash pushed a subset of fundamentally sound banks — those with low NPLs, adequate capital, and earnings multiples below 6x — below levels where long-term holders accumulate. It pushed structurally weak banks to prices that merely reflected the magnitude of their earnings problems.
The sector’s 4.6% rebound on March 10 did not erase the 4% decline on March 9. What it did was separate the banks where institutional buyers see value from the banks where buyers see only a lower number. For any investor evaluating banking exposure on the DSE, that distinction — between fundamental support and the illusion of cheapness — is the only question that matters now.
This analysis is based on publicly available DSE trading data and market statistics. It does not constitute investment advice. Consult a BSEC-licensed advisor before making investment decisions.