Stocks edged higher for the second straight session on Tuesday as the bargain hunters showed their buying interest on selective lucrative issues.
The market opened higher and the positive trend sustained until the end of the session amid modest volatility, ultimately ending over 22 points higher.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 22.25 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 6,342. DSEX added over 41 points in the past two days.
Two other indices also ended marginally higher. The DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, advanced 9.37 points to finish at 2,294 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) rose 4.84 points to close at 1,385.
Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, also rose and total turnover amounted to Tk 8.18 billion, which was 17 per cent higher than the previous day’s tally of Tk 7.0 billion.
Market operators said the bargain hunters took the opportunity of buying stocks at lucrative prices after the recent market fall.
Gainers took a strong lead over the losers as out of 382 issues traded, 199 advanced, 133 declined and 50 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Shinepukur Ceramics was the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 368 million changing hands, closely followed by Beximco (Tk 291 million), Fu-Wang Food (Tk 226 million), BD Finance (Tk 225 million) and Delta Life Insurance (Tk 176 million).
Newly listed Meghna Insurance was the top gainer, posting a 9.94 per cent gain while IPDC Finance was the day’s worst loser, losing 2.0 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw modest rise with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –gaining 46 points to settle at 18,663 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX –gaining 24 points to close at 11,187.
Of the issues traded, 160 advanced, 97 declined and 36 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 28.55 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value worth nearly Tk 604 million.