The prime index of the country’s major bourse crossed the 5,000-mark after one year on Thursday as investors kept showing their buying binge riding on regulatory moves and gradual improvement of economic activities.
DSEX, the key index of the DSE, went up by 39.60 points or 0.79 per cent to settle at 5,011, which is the highest level of DSEX in the past 12 months since September 8, 2019.
Market analysts said active presence of the bargain hunters, lower returns on the money market, lucrative price level of listed securities and strong regulatory actions against wrongdoers continued to attract investors to put fresh funds on stocks.
Two other DSE indices also ended higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 13.33 points to finish at 1,740 and the DSE Shariah Index rose 12.08 points to close at 1,158.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 10.24 billion on the country’s premier bourse, which was 5.0 per cent lower than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 10.78 billion.
Gainers outnumbered the losers today, as out of 356 issues traded on the DSE trading floor, 190 closed higher, 117 ended lower while 49 issues remained unchanged.
As many as 195,546 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 359.11 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap on the premier bourse rose to Tk 3,789 billion on Thursday, from Tk 3,763 billion in the previous session.
The pharmaceutical sector continued to dominate the turnover chart with Beximco Pharma topped the list with shares worth Tk 553 million changing hands, followed by Beximco, BRAC Bank, Orion Pharma and Orion Infusions.
Hakkani Pulp & Paper was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 9.99 per cent while Pragati Life Insurance was the worst loser for the second straight session, dropping 9.96 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended higher with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI) gaining 100 points to close at 14,295 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) rising 53 points to close at 8,602.
Of the issues traded, 147 gained, 83 declined and 43 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 14.94 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 292 million.