Stocks bounced back on Wednesday, breaking a three-day losing spell, as institutional investors were slowly becoming active in the market.
Market operators said investors showed their buying appetite on sector-specific issues, especially power and engineering sectors.
After hitting the key index 18 months low on the previous day, the market opened on a positive note and the upward trend continued till end of the session.
Finally, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 36 points or 0.68 per cent to settle at 5,309, after losing 156 points in the past three sessions.
"The upward trend in the market is mainly driven by positive movement in all the sectors, excepting telecommunication," commented LankaBangla Securities.
Among the large-cap sectors, fuel & power posted highest gain of 1.70 per cent, followed by engineering 1.10 per cent.
"The market index exceeded 5,300-mark as large-cap stocks tuned up and market participants showed some zeal for power stocks," said a leading broker.
The two other indices also closed marginally higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 8.04 points to settle at 1,902 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 8.95 points to close at 1,245.
Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, also rose to Tk 7.41 billion, which was 18 per cent higher than the previous session's Tk 6.27 billion.
Block trade contributed Tk 604 million to the day's total turnover. Stocks like BATBC, United Power and Grameephone dominated the block trade board.
Of the traded issues, 207 closed higher, 87 lower and 43 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
According to International Leasing Securities, the investors took position on the lucrative price level in different stocks, especially fuel & power and engineering that spurred the bourse to nudge higher.
The newly listed Bashundhara Paper Mills continued to top the turnover chart with 3.52 million shares worth Tk 591 million changing hands, followed by Monno Ceramic Industries, United Power, Legacy Footwear and Ratanpur Steel Re-rolling Mills.
Deshbandhu Polymer was the day's highest gainer, posting a gain of 10 per cent while the Modern Dyeing was the worst loser, losing 6.23 per cent.
The port city bourse CSE also returned to higher with its All Share Price Index - CASPI - advancing 109 points to settle at 16,361 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -gaining 70 points to finish at 9,893.
The gainers beat losers as 140 issues closed higher, 68 ended lower and 34 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city bourse traded 12.17 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 633 million in turnover.
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