Stocks continue its rally on Thursday, with the core index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) crossing the 'psychological' level of 5,600 again amid extended trading hours.
As the government relaxed the coronavirus-induced restrictions, the bourses extended the trading hours by an hour -- total hours are from 10:00am to 1:30pm -- in line with the new banking hours, effective from Thursday.
However, the market witnessed high volatility before ending marginally higher for the third straight session.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, settled 17.18 points or 0.30 per cent higher at 5,606, hitting a three-month high since February 4. The index added more than 95 points in the three consecutive sessions.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, also jumped to Tk 14.86 billion on the country's premier bourse, 6.30 per cent up from Tk 13.98 billion the previous day.
It happens to be the largest single-day transaction since January 25 this year, when the turnover clocked in at record Tk 15.85 billion.
Market operators said the investors continued their buying spree, targeting selective large-cap stocks amid growing confidence.
The market rally came riding on the positive macroeconomic indicators such as remittance, foreign reserve and export growth coupled with better-than-expected earnings declarations, said a top broker.
He noted that lower return from money market, easing virus worries and extension of margin loan cap implementation time for another six months led the investors to inject fresh funds into stocks.
Investors are seeing the stock market as a better investment option as confidence gets restored riding on the satisfactory earning declarations amidst declining Covid-19 infection cases in the country, commented EBL Securities.
The stockbroker noted that the investors' heightened participation pushed up the stocks amid extended trading time.
Two other sub-indices also edged higher, with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, advanced 5.17 points to finish at 2,137 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) gained 2.25 points to close at 1,252.
The investors' enthusiasm in textile, engineering, power, pharma, food and banking sectors helped the DSEX cross 5,600 mark, commented International Leasing Securities.
However, some other investors reshuffled their portfolios in life insurance, general insurance, cement and financial institution sectors, said the stockbroker.
The textile sector generated the highest return, gaining 2.40 per cent, followed by engineering (1.60 per cent), power (1.10 per cent), pharma (0.70 per cent) and banking (0.60 per cent).
On the other hand, life insurance, general insurance, cement and non-bank financial institutions witnessed price erosion, shedding 2.60 per cent, 2.20 per cent, 1.60 per cent and 0.50 per cent respectively.
Gainers took a modest lead over the losers, as out of 360 issues traded, 180 advanced, 120 declined and 60 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco continued to dominate the turnover chart, with shares worth about Tk 1.07 billion changing hands, followed by Orion Pharma (Tk 543 million), Beximco Pharma (Tk 450 million), National Feed Mills (Tk 423 million) and LankaBangla Finance (Tk 418 million).
A total of 234,388 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 503.92 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE also rose to Tk 4,776 billion on Thursday, up from Tk 4,755 billion in the previous session.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - gaining 63 points to settle at 16,208 and the Selective Categories Index-CSCX-rising 36 points to close at 9,775.
Of the issues traded, 164 advanced, 90 declined and 34 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city's bourse traded 22.84 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 569 million.
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