Net foreign investment in the premier bourse more than trebled in March as overseas investors were tempted by the slump in the stockmarket.

Last month, foreign investors purchased shares worth Tk 455.96 crore and sold off shares worth Tk 299.26 crore, according to data from the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

The net foreign investment in March then came to Tk 156.70 crore, in contrast to Tk 94 crore in the negative the previous month.

“Foreign investors are very smart -- they always invest in the capital market when the share prices are on the decline,” said Mohammed Rahmat Pasha, managing director and chief executive of UCB Capital Management.

DSEX, the benchmark index of the DSE, lost 4.66 percent, or 273.39 point, last month.

On March 29, the last trading session of the month, DSEX stood at 5,597.44 points, down from 5,870.83 points on March 1. In fact, on March 28, DSEX slid to its lowest level in at least nine months.

Many companies' share prices dipped to their lowest in March, so foreign investors bought into them, Pasha said.

“Foreign investors are getting confidence in our market as the DSE will appoint a strategic partner very soon,” said Sadeque Ahmed Mostaque, president of the Dhaka Stock Exchange Brokers Association.

Since investor confidence is rising, the supply of shares from fundamentally strong companies should also increase in the market, he added.