Stocks eked out gains for the second consecutive week that ended on Thursday, as institutional investors continued to support the market.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), soared 36.48 points or 0.71 per cent week on week to settle at 5,169.
According to market analysts, institutional investors continued to prop up the market while small investors were busy realigning their portfolios during the earning season.
A leading broker said most of the investors were taking fresh position on June year-end stocks to rebalance their portfolios at the current lucrative price level.
On Wednesday, the central bank unveiled the growth-supportive monetary policy for fiscal year (FY) 2019-20, which also prompted some investors to return to market, he said.
Investors were also encouraged by the news that earnings per share (EPS) of most listed banks increased in the first half (H1) of 2019, he said.
As per un-audited financial statements, the consolidated EPS of the 24 banks, out of 30, soared for the January-June 2019 period, compared to the same period of the previous year.
The outgoing week saw five trading days as usual. Of them, four sessions ended higher while one saw marginal fall.
Two other indices of DSE ended marginally higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, gained 2.31 points to finish at 1,838 and the DSE Shariah Index climbed 18.46 points to end at 1,192.
The total turnover on the prime bourse stood at Tk 22.01 billion, up from Tk 19.98 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged out at Tk 4.40 billion, rising 10.2 per cent over the previous week's average of Tk 3.99 billion.
International Leasing Securities said the institutional investors came forward to support the market following the central bank's suggestion that some 20 banks can make fresh investment to help the ailing market.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also rose 0.45 per cent to Tk 3,861 billion on Thursday from Tk 3,844 billion in the previous week.
Block trade contributed 2.50 per cent to the total week's total turnover, with stocks like Square Pharma, Bank Asia, Olympic Industries, Fortune Shoes and United Insurance dominating the block trade board.
Major sectors showed mixed performances, with telecom posting the highest gain of 4.01 per cent, followed by engineering (3.55 per cent), pharmaceuticals (1.81 per cent) and non-bank financial institutions (1.78 per cent).
On the other hand, food sector saw the highest loss of 3.52 per cent, followed by power (1.12 per cent), and banking (0.23 per cent).
Losers outnumbered the gainers, as out of 354 issues traded, 182 closed lower, 154 ended higher and 18 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Fortune Shoes dominated the week's turnover chart, with 22.77 million shares worth Tk 944 million changing hands.
Monno Ceramic was the week's best performer, posting a gain of 51.06 per cent while Vangurd AML Rupali Bank Balanced Fund was the worst loser, plunging by 37.38 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also edged higher, with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -gaining 85 points to settle at 15,798 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - advancing 53 points to finish the week at 9,604.
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