Stocks maintained their gaining streak for the fourth straight week that ended on Thursday, with investors showing their appetite for June year-end companies' shares.
It was also the first week after Eid-ul-Azha holiday, which saw the DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), rise 35.43 points or 0.68 per cent to settle at 5,236.
Market analysts said investors mostly collected June-closing stocks throughout the week ahead of dividend declaration season while some others readjusted their portfolios on the basis of quarterly earnings results.
The market maintained its upward trend against the backdrop of positive expectations regarding corporate disclosures by June year-end companies, said a leading broker.
Some investors also rebalanced their portfolios throughout the week considering the latest quarterly earnings results, he noted.
The EBL Securities said investors took position on June year-end stocks in anticipation of positive earnings and dividend yield.
A section of investors, however, remained anxious about the possibility of extra liquidity pressure on the money market following Bangladesh Bank's move with regard to cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) rules, the stockbroker noted.
The central bank has recently asked the scheduled banks to comply with the CRR and SLR rules when it comes to their offshore banking operations from September 01.
The week saw five trading days as usual. Of them, four sessions ended higher while one saw mild correction.
Two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 12.26 points to finish at 1,850 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 14.63 points to close at 1206.
The weekly turnover on the prime bourse clocked in at Tk 23.03 billion, down from Tk 23.69 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged out at Tk 4.60 billion, down from the previous week's average of Tk 4.74 billion.
However, the market capitalisation of the DSE edged up by 0.47 per cent to Tk 3,884 billion on Thursday from Tk 3,866 billion in the previous week.
Block trade contributed 1.40 per cent to the week's total turnover, with stocks like BRAC Bank, Prime Bank, Paramount Textile, Grameenphone and Islami Bank dominating the block trade board.
According to the International Leasing Securities, the investors mostly took position on June-end stocks while some others sold shares from banking, non-bank financial institutions and food sectors.
Most major sectors showed positive performance, with the power sector posting the highest gain of 2.34 per cent, followed by engineering (2.17 per cent), pharma (1.45 per cent) and telecommunications (0.27 per cent).
On the other hand, the banking sector witnessed the highest correction of 2.03 per cent, followed by food (1.31 per cent) and non-bank financial institutions (0.70 per cent).
Gainers beat the losers, as out of 355 issues traded, 212 closed higher and 130 ended lower while 13 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
The United Power dominated the week's turnover chart for the second consecutive week, with 4.08 million shares worth Tk 1.63 billion changing hands during the week.
Familytex BD was the week's best performer, posting a gain of 30 per cent while Sunlife Insurance was the biggest loser, plunging 8.89 per cent.
The port city's bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also ended higher, with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - gaining 144 points to settle at 16,040 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - rising 74 points to finish the week at 9,734.
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