Business Desk :
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) set six new records on Monday amid increased participation of buoyant investors.
The premier bourse continued to break its previous records as all three indices, market capitalisation, the total number of trade and total trade volume hit a historical high.
DSEX, the core index of the DSE, went up by 32.06 points or 0.48 per cent to settle at 6,628, the highest since its inception more than eight years back in 2013.
Two other indices-the DS30 index and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) — followed the suit to close at a record high of 2,392 and 1,452, after gaining 6.73 points and 12.76 points respectively.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also hit a fresh all-time high at Tk 5,455 billion on Monday, surpassing the previous day’s record high of Tk 5,443 billion.Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also climbed to more than 10 years high to Tk 29.39 billion on the country’s premier bourse. It was also the second-highest turnover in the DSE’s history.
The all-time-high turnover on the DSE was Tk 32.49 billion recorded on December 5, 2010, when the market saw a bull run before a crash.
Market experts said the buoyant investors are putting fresh funds on stocks anticipating positive momentum in the coming days also as the Bangladesh Bank unveiled another expansionary monetary policy for this fiscal year.
Investors are rushing towards the capital market amid lower returns on the money market and limited scope of investment in other instruments, said a merchant banker.
Gainers took a modest lead over the losers, as out of 374 issues traded, 181 advanced, 173 declined and 20 remained unchanged on the Dhaka bourse.
Beximco – the flagship company of Beximco Group-topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 1.53 billion changing hands, followed by Orion Pharma (Tk 716 million), IFIC Bank (Tk 607 million), National Polymer (Tk 543 million) and GPH Ispat (Tk 526 million).
Low-cap companies continued to dominate the gainers’ list with VFS Tread Dyeing was the best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Northern Islami Insurance was the worst loser, losing 6.46 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also kept rising with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)-soaring 101 points to finish at 19,289 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX rising 60 points to close at 11,574.
Of the issues traded, 157 advanced, 144 declined and 20 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 54.22 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 1.28 billion.