Stocks backed on the gaining streak Tuesday, after a single-day break, as investors put fresh bets on banking and financial institutions issues ahead of annual earnings and dividend declarations.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 20.98 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 7,072, after losing 12.50 points in the previous day.
Two other indices also posted modest gain. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 2.60 points to finish at 2,610 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 1.82 points to close at 1,511.
Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 14.50 billion, which was 1.54 per cent higher than the previous day's tally of Tk 14.28 billion.
Market analysts said the optimistic investors put fresh bets on the banking and financial institutions sector stocks considering the upcoming annual earnings and dividend declaration, taking the market index and turnover higher.
Share prices of 21 financial institutions closed higher out of 23. Prices of 22 banks rose, four closed in the red while seven remained unchanged, out of 33 listed banks.
The investors' buying spree in sector-specific issues ahead of the forthcoming year-end earnings and dividend declarations helped indices close higher, according to EBL Securities.
"Major macro indicators showed that the country is well placed to overcome the potential challenges from the deteriorating pandemic situation, which bolstered investors' confidence," said the stockbroker.
The investors' activity was mostly concentrated on the financial institution sector, grabbing 11.5 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by pharmaceuticals (9.6 per cent) and miscellaneous (9.5 per cent).
Most of the large-cap sectors posted gains with non-bank financial institutions booking the highest gain of 2.92 per cent, followed by power with 1.50 per cent, banking 0.60 per cent, pharmaceuticals 0.03 per cent and telecom 0.02 per cent.
On the other hand, engineering and food sectors faced corrections of 0.82 per cent and 0.85 per cent respectively.
Gainers took a modest lead over the losers as out of 380 issues traded, 176 advanced, 149 declined and 55 issues remained unchanged on the DSE.
A total number of 240,074 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 339.68 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE rose to Tk 5,667 billion on Tuesday, up from Tk 5,657 billion in the previous session.
Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, which lost 4.34 per cent further, was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk 706 million changing hands, followed by Islami Bank, Beximco, Fortune Shoes and Bay Leasing & Investment.
Bay Leasing & Investment was the day's top gainer, posting a 10 per cent rise while Meghna Pet Industries was the worst loser, losing 4.78 per cent.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also rebounded with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -gaining 39 points to settle at 20,714 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX-rising 23 points to close at 12,444.
Of the issues traded, 143 advanced, 127 declined, and 33 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port-city bourse traded 22.87 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value of Tk 638 million.
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