Daily trade turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) hit a one-month high on Wednesday as investors regained hopes to put fresh bets on large-cap stocks amid quarterly disclosures.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 14.62 billion on the country's premier bourse, climbing further by 62 per cent over previous day's mark of Tk 9.03 billion.
It was the biggest single-day transaction since October 2 this year, when the turnover made a record of Tk 15.33 billion.
Along with the soaring turnover, DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 35.66 points or 0.56 per cent to finish at 6,388. DSEX added around 81 points in the past two trading days.
Two other indices of the DSE also closed higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, rose 8.38 points to 2,244 and the DSE Shariah index gained 9.48 points to close at 1,399.
Market insiders said most investors showed buying interest in selective stocks while some were busy rebalancing their portfolios after quarterly declarations.
Stocks extended their upward momentum with a higher participation of investors after the securities regulator resolved the cheque encashment issue, said EBL Securities.
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on Tuesday restored the scope of purchasing securities against cheques before encashment, considering the demand of the market intermediaries.
The market witnessed a significant inflow of funds as the move was taken meeting investors' expectations, said the stockbroker.
Most of the traded issues, however, remained unchanged due to the 'floor price' restriction. Of the 370 issues traded, 113 advanced, 41 declined and 216 issues remained unchanged on the DSE.
The miscellaneous sector dominated the turnover chart, grabbing 28 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by IT (13 per cent) and pharmaceuticals (12 per cent).
Large-cap sectors posted positive performance. Pharmaceutical booked the highest gain of 0.57 per cent, followed by power 0.28 per cent, engineering 0.10 per cent, food 0.06 per cent, and banking 0.03 per cent.
Beximco became the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 1.98 billion changing hands. It grabbed almost 14 per cent of the total turnover.
It was followed by Eastern Housing (632 million), Genex Infosys (Tk 616 million), Bashundhara Paper Mills (Tk 530 million) and Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (Tk 498 million).
Desh General Insurance was the day's top gainer, gaining 10 per cent while JMI Syringes & Medical Devices was the day's worst loser, losing 5.10 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) rising 71 points to settle at 18,805 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) gaining 43 points to close at 11,270.
Of the issues traded, 91 advanced, 29 declined and 157 issues remained unchanged.
The port-city bourse traded 4.92 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 241 million.
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