Business Desk :
Stocks ended higher for the two straight sessions on Thursday, with the key index of the major bourse crossing the 5,400-mark again, as bargain hunters were active on sector-wise lucrative issues.
The market witnessed volatility in the first half of the session, but the latter half went up steadily as optimistic investors showed their appetite on sector-specific issues which saw price erosion in the past few days.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 30.74 points or 0.57 per cent to settle at 5,416. DSEX added about 97 points in the two consecutive sessions.
Two other indices also edged higher. The DSE 30 Index comprising blue chips advanced 9.42 points to finish at 2,065 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) rose 5.18 points to close at 1,225.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, jumped to Tk 7.46 billion on the country’s premier bourse, rising by nearly 41 per cent over the previous day’s mark of Tk 5.30 billion.
Market operators said bargain hunters showed their buying appetite on sector-specific issues which saw price erosion in the past few trading sessions.
The news that the stock market regulator has formulated draft rules on the formation and execution of capital market stabilisation fund lured the investors to take a position on lucrative stocks, said a leading broker.
The top positive index contributors were Summit Power, Walton, LafargeHolcim, Orion Pharma, Power Grid Company, BATBC and Square Pharma, according to data from amarstock.com, a stock market data analyst.
Debutant eGeneration, an IT company, was the second-highest gainer, hitting the upper limit circuit breaker for the third straight session.
The IT Company’s shares closed at Tk 24.70 each, soaring almost 10 per cent, the highest allowable limit for the third trading day of the new issue.
Robi’s shares rose further by 4.04 per cent to close at Tk 43.70.
Gainers took a strong lead over the losers as out of 346 issues traded, 168 advanced, 63 declined and 115 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth over Tk 1.24 billion changing hands followed by Robi, LankaBangla Finance, BATBC and Summit Power.
Orion Pharmaceuticals was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 9.80 per cent while Premier Leasing was the worst loser, losing 5.56 per cent.
A total number of 142,202 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 192.87 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE also rose to Tk 4,669 billion on Thursday, up from Tk 4,640 billion in the previous day.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended marginally higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI -gaining 60 points to settle at 15,650 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX advancing 37 points to close at 9,441.
Of the issues traded, 95 gained, 64 declined and 61 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 7.47 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 255 million.
