Core index exceeds 6800pt mark

Stocks rebounded strongly Sunday, after two-day moderate correction, with all three indices and market capitalization of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) set new highs.
The market opened on a flying note and the upbeat trend sustained till the end of the session as buoyant investors put fresh bets on major sector issues, particularly on banking sector stocks.
DSEX, the benchmark index of the DSE, went up by 81.61 points or 1.20 per cent to settle at 6,842-the highest since its inception more than eight years back on January 27, 2013.
The core index of the DSE, surpassed the 6,800-mark for the first time after the index was introduced.
Two other indices--the DSE 30 Index and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) -- followed suit to close at new highs of 2,451 and 1,479, after rising 28.34 points and 18.38 points respectively.
The DSE launched the DS30 Index on January 27, 2013 with a base point of 1,460.30 while DSES was introduced on January 20, 2014 with a base point of 941.27.
The market capitalisation of the prime bourse also hit a fresh all-time high at Tk 5,544 billion on Sunday, surpassing the previous high of Tk 5,512 billion recorded just five days back.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 27.06 billion on the country's premier bourse, in a further buck by 22 per cent over the previous day's tally of Tk 22.18 billion.
Market analysts said the bargain hunters put fresh bets on major sector stocks after a two-day profit booking sell-offs, taking the market indices in the new highs.
The buoyant investors are putting fresh funds, particularly on banking, financial institutions, telecom textile and power sector stocks, said a leading stockbroker.
He noted that the securities regulator's recent move to extend the credit facilities to the investors as per the existing margin loan ratio until the key index remains below 8,000 points, also encouraged investors to the market.
In other words, a maximum margin loan of Tk 80 can be provided against a client's own investment of Tk 100.
The investors remained optimistic amid lower returns from the money market, limited scopes of investment in other instruments, and the securities regulator's latest move to extend credit facilities to the investors, said an asset manager.
However, he advised the investors to be cautious and not to invest in overvalued stocks in order to avert any misfortune.
Stocks sparked a rally as investors turned their focus to banking sector stocks, commented EBL Securities.
The heavyweight banking sector generated the highest return, gaining nearly 2.0 per cent, closely followed by textile with 1.80 per cent, financial institutions 1.70 per cent, telecom 0.90 per cent, power 0.70 per cent, pharma 0.70 per cent and engineering 0.60 per cent.
General insurance, ceramic and food sectors witnessed modest corrections.
The gainers took a strong lead over the losers as out of 376 issues traded, 247 advanced, 96 declined and 33 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group-topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 1.54 billion changing hands, followed by LafargeHolcim (Tk 902 million), First Security Islami Bank (Tk 672 million), IFIC Bank (Tk 622 million) and LankaBangla Finance (Tk 538 million).
Low-cap companies dominated the gainers' list with Aziz Pipes being the day's top gainer, posting a 10 per cent rise while Malek Spinning Mills was the worst loser, losing 4.33 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -soaring 208 points to settle at 19,921 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX rising 121 points to close at 11,942.
Of the issues traded, 171 advanced, 37 declined and 17 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city's bourse traded 14.89 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 297 million.

[email protected]