Business Desk :
Stocks extended their rally for the sixth straight session on Thursday with rising turnover as buoyant investors put fresh bets on major sector issues, beating Omicron worries.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 57.51 points or 0.83 per cent to settle at 6,987. DSEX added around 256 points in the past six consecutive sessions. Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also crossed Tk 16 billion-mark after one and a half months and amounted to Tk 16.83 billion, climbing by 19 per cent over the previous day’s tally of Tk 14.14 billion. Market analysts said stocks continued to swell, beating worries of the rising Covid-19 cases in the country as the investors continued pouring in their funds in the rallying stock market. The investors continued pouring in their funds in stocks, putting their bet on hopes that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 would not be as devastating as many had previously thought, they said.
Two other indices also ended higher with the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, rose 27.40 points to finish at 2,603 and the DSE Shariah Index advanced 8.46 points to close at 1,472.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers as out of 378 issues traded, 179 declined, 164 advanced and 35 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 255,045 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 377.76 million shares and mutual fund units. Delta Life Insurance topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 1.18 billion changing hands, followed by Beximco (Tk 1.12 billion), Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (Tk 783 million), Power Grid Company (Tk 699 million) and LafargeHolcim (Tk 418 million). Western Marine Shipyard was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while Loveloo Ice Cream was the worst loser, losing 8.78 per cent. The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) ended higher with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)-gaining 168 points to close at 20,495 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX rose 103 points to close at 12,310. Of the issues traded, 136 advanced, 135 declined and 37 remained unchanged on the CSE. The port city bourse traded 14.18 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of more than Tk 413 million.
