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Stocks witnessed a positive trend in the early hours of trading on Tuesday as bargain hunters favoured taking positions in lucrative issues following regulatory support.
The stock market regulator increased the free limit facility for ICB Securities, a subsidiary of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, from Tk 100 million to Tk 500 million.
That means ICB Securities can invest up to Tk 500 million in a single day using credit facilities, although the loan must be settled by the end of the day, with ICB acting as a guarantor.
Institutional buying support, particularly ICB, added strength to the equity indices despite overall market sentiment still remaining subdued, said a stockbroker.
Accordingly, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), gained more than 84 points in the first hour of trading although gradually eroded most of the early gains as the session progressed.
After two hours of trading, the DSEX went up by 28 points or 0.51 per cent to 5421 at 12:00 noon, when the report was filed.
The blue-chip index DS30, a group of 30 prominent companies, advanced 2 points to 1940 while the DSES Index, which represents Shariah-based companies, gained 6 points to 1,187 till then.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, remained low and amounted to Tk 2.78 billion.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also opened higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –gaining 10 points to 15,615, also at 12:00 noon.
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