Stocks continued to rally for the third straight session on Thursday, with investors showing strong appetite for large-cap issues amid growing optimism in the wake of regulatory moves to strengthen the capital market.
DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), gained 45.59 points or 0.94 per cent to close at 4,873 on the last trading day of the week.
The past three sessions saw the DSEX rise 111 points or 2.33 per cent in total.
"Stocks kept gaining riding on the investors' optimism as the economy is recovering from a pandemic-induced shock," commented UCB Capital Management in its regular market analysis.
Market operators said enthusiastic investors continued their buying spree as the stock market regulator's recent steps to ensure accountability of the stakeholders helped restore the investor confidence.
Low returns on money market deposits, lucrative price level of securities, strong regulatory actions against wrongdoers and expansionary monetary policy led the bargain hunters to inject funds in the market, said a merchant banker.
He noted that many investors are injecting fresh funds into the market for capital gains as returns on the money market funds have declined.
The recent comment of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman that no agencies will raise questions about the source of untaxed money also boosted the investor confidence, he added.
During Thursday's trading session, two other indices of DSE also ended higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 11.04 points to finish at 1,690 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 4.47 points to close at 1,130.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, however, remained below Tk 10 billion-mark for the sixth straight session. It stood at Tk 9.07 billion on the country's premier bourse on Thursday, 16 per cent up from Tk 7.83 billion in the previous day.
The investors showed their interest in the large-cap stocks, especially in banking, cement, textile, power, life insurance and food sectors, which helped the benchmark index close in green, commented the International Leasing Securities.
The stockbroker noted that some investors booked quick profits in general insurance, pharma and telecom sector stocks.
Among the major sectors, cement posted the highest gain of 4.10 per cent, followed by banking (2.60 per cent), power (1.10 per cent) and financial institution sector (0.20 per cent).
On the other hand, general insurance, pharma and telecom sectors lost 0.90 per cent, 0.50 per cent and 0.30 per cent respectively.
Gainers outnumbered the losers, as out of 357 issues traded, 196 closed higher, 111 ended lower while 50 issues remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
A total of 188,217 trades were executed in the day's trading session, with trading volume standing at 272.75 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap on the premier bourse rose to Tk 3,696 billion on Thursday from Tk 3,674 billion in the previous session.
The pharmaceuticals sector continued to dominate the turnover chart. Orion Pharma topped the chart with shares worth Tk 426 million changing hands, closely followed by Beximco, Beximco Pharma, LafargeHolcim and Brac Bank.
Desh Garment was the best performer, posting a gain of 9.97 per cent while Imam Button was the worst loser, shedding 10 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended higher with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI) soaring 146 points to close at 13,873 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -- gaining 87 points to finish at 8,384.
Of the issues traded, 166 gained, 75 declined and 42 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 10.61 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 262 million.
babulfexpress@gmail.com
