Dhaka stocks rose to an 11-week high Thursday, led by banks, non-banking financial institutions, IT and pharmaceutical issues, amid low turnover.
Trading on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) began with positive note, pushing the benchmark index up more than 64 points in first five minutes of the session.
But, it landed in the negative territory in mid-session due to panic selling, created by the rumour that the bourse might impose restriction on trading as per the directives of securities regulator and later, it started regaining and closed higher.
The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) gained 45 points to finish at 3070.75, a highest single-day rise since March 25 last when it rose 69 points.
Two other market barometers - All Shares Price Index (DSI) and DSE-20 blue chip Index -- also rose 35.40 points and 34.10 points to close at 2602.43 and 2533.83 respectively.
Dominated by gainers, the total turnover, however, came down to Tk 3.0 billion mark after May 12 to reach Tk 2.70 billion against previous day's Tk 3.61 billion. Out of the 222 issues traded, 143 gained, 69 declined and 10 remained unchanged.
Investors, shaky over the last three days, bought the shares on the news that the securities regulator cancelled a pre-fixed meeting with the market operators and merchant banks to discuss the overheated market, pulling the market up, said the stock dealers.
On the significant fall in the turnover, a market analyst said: "A small number of investors took part in trading due to the panic over the regulator's series of meetings."
But, the total market capitalisation rose to Tk 881.28 billion against Tk 871.68 billion.
Stock prices of Shahjalal Bank, the third leading gainer on the day, rose 11.93 per cent to close at Tk 372.75 a share, making it top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 226.49 million traded.
The share prices of the bank rose, propelled by the news that Shahjalal Bank will buy the shares of ICB Islami Bank Limited.
AIMS First Mutual Fund was the second top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 148.53 million trading and its share prices posted a gain of 6.92 per cent to end at Tk 22.84 a share.
Other turnover leaders were Square Pharma, NCC Bank, Beximco Pharma, S Alam Cold Roll Steels Limited, Padma Oil, Lanka Bangla Finance, AB Bank and Keya Cosmetics.
Metro Spinning, the sister concern of Maksons Group, had the biggest gain of 17.58 per cent. Its share prices rose on the news that Maksons Textile will hit the market soon.
Karnaphuli Insurance was the second top loser with 6.1 per cent fall on the day.
