Stocks kept the winning streak for second straight sessions on Thursday as investors continued their buying binge on large-cap issues riding on regulatory moves to restore discipline in the country’s capital market.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 36.29 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 4,927, which is the highest level of DSEX in 11 months since October 6, 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 helped buoy the market.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 10.94 billion on the country’s premier bourse, which was 9.0 per cent lower than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 12.01 billion.
Two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 0.76 points to finish at 1,715 and the DSE Shariah Index rose 4.48 points to close at 1,141.
Gainers outnumbered the losers, as out of 355 issues traded, 221 closed higher, 109 ended lower while 25 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
A total number of 218,483 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 359.80 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap on the premier bourse also rose to Tk 3,725 billion on Thursday, from Tk 3,706 billion in the previous session.
The pharmaceuticals sector continued to dominate the turnover chart with Beximco Pharma topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 769 million changing hands, followed by Beximco, Orion Pharma, Brac Bank and LankaBangla Finance.
AB Bank, which backed to ‘A’ category from ‘Z’ category on Wednesday, was the best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Express Insurance was the worst loser, losing 7.44 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended higher with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—gaining 92 points to close at 14,066 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX –rising 57 points to finish at 8,482.
Of the issues traded, 171 gained, 67 declined and 37 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 16.23 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 325 million.
babulfexpress@gmail.com