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Stocks ended marginally higher on Thursday, extending the gaining streak for the eight straight sessions, as investors continued to show their appetite on sector-wise issues despite the ongoing countywide lockdown.
The market witnessed high volatility in early trading but the rest of the session went up steadily amid the growing confidence of investors in the market.
However, the presence of investors on the trading floor remained very low due to the ongoing lockdown and reduced trading hours. Most investors executed their trading online or through mobile apps.
The bourses and brokerage houses also encouraged investors to conduct share trading using virtual platforms amid the pandemic.
DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 11.80 points or 0.21 per cent to settle at 5,435. DSEX added more than 273 points in the past eight consecutive sessions.
Two other indices also ended marginally higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 4.05 points to close at 2,087 and the Shariah Index (DSES) rose 3.90 points to finish at 1,237.
Turnover on the DSE rose to Tk 8.83 billion, which was 14 per cent higher than the previous day’s turnover of Tk 7.76 billion.
Gainers took a modest lead over the losers, as out of 354 issues traded, 143 advanced, 135 declined and 76 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco -- the flagship company of Beximco Group -- continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth about Tk 1.54 billion changing hands, followed by Beximco Pharma (Tk 444 million), LankaBangla Finance (Tk 398 million), BD Finance (Tk 353 million) and Robi (Tk 272 million).
United Insurance was the day’s top gainer, posting a 9.91 per cent gain while Paramount Insurance was the worst loser, losing 5.31 per cent.
A total number of 150,287 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 229.29 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of DSE dropped slightly to Tk 4,683 billion on Thursday, down from Tk 4,685 billion in the previous session.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended marginally higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –gaining 12 points to settle at 15,723 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX advancing 7.0 points to close at 9,485.
Of the issues traded, 102 advanced, 95 declined and 51 remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 9.62 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 369 million.