Stocks posted moderate gain Sunday as some investors showed their buying appetite on sector specific issues, particularly banking sector shares.
Market analysts said bargain hunters took position on stocks which suffered losses in recent price correction, helping the market index to close higher.
Investors chose the financial sector shares as the sector will declare year-end earnings and dividend soon, said a leading broker.
Accordingly, the banking sector posted the highest gain of 1.40 per cent with 25 banks closed green, out of 30.
The market started on high note and the key index of the prime bourse rose about 44 points within first hour of the trading session. But rest of the session eroded some early gains.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,775, gaining 25.53 points or 0.44 per cent over the previous session.
Two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 5.65 points to finish at 2004 and the DSES (Shariah) index rose 3.32 points to settle at 1,314.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, however, fell to Tk 7.25 billion, which was 22 per cent lower than the previous day's turnover of Tk 9.32 billion.
International Leasing Securities said, the bargain hunters took position on the lucrative price level in bank, telecom, engineering, financial institutions and textile sectors.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended higher with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - advancing 51 points to settle at 17,654 while the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -gaining 34 points to finish at 10,684.
Here too, the losers beat the gainers as 122 issues ended lower, 113 closed higher and 29 remained unchanged.
The port city bourse traded 9.23 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 315 million in turnover.
babulfexpress@gmail.com