Dhaka stocks continued to rally for the third session in a row Thursday, taking the indices to another high.
The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) rose 0.34 per cent or 23.37 points to end at 6,743.20, outpacing all time high of 6,633.46 recorded in the previous session.
The gain was led by banking, engineering and pharmaceuticals sectors that soared 1.0 per cent, 2.0 per cent and 0.45 per cent respectively.
Other major sectors, including non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), telecommunications and energy, went down as investors booked profit on those stocks.
The broader DSE All Shares Price Index (DSI) closed at 5,620.15 with a gain of 0.31 per cent or 17.59 points. The DSE-20 blue chip index soared 0.34 per cent or 13.59 points to 3,913.09.
Trading activity lost its pace after three days as it dropped 17.35 per cent to Tk 18 billion over the previous session and the market capitalisation reached at Tk 3.02 trillion, which was a new high.
Banking sector, which makes up one-fourth of the market’s capitalisation, closed 1.08 per cent higher, extending two sessions of gains.
Among the banking issues, City Bank rose the highest 31.76 per cent, followed by Dutch-Bangla Bank 7.24 per cent and Uttara Bank 2.61 per cent.
Engineering sector continued to flex its muscle as it climbed 2.19 per cent, led by Eastern Cables that rose 14.81 per cent, followed by Navana CNG 5.56 per cent and BSRM Steel 4.66 per cent.
Pharmaceuticals closed slightly 0.45 per cent higher, led by Square Pharmaceuticals, the country’s top drug maker, which gained 0.89 per cent.
After four sessions of gains, Grameenphone, the most weighted shares in DSE and lone listed company in the telecommunications sector, lost 1.70 per cent.
NBFIs sector was down by 0.83 per cent, and fuel and power 0.18 per cent.
BSRM Steel topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 880.87 million changing hands.
Other turnover leaders were Summit Power, Aftab Automobiles, Beximco Ltd, Navana CNG, Titas Gas, LankaBangla Finance, Summit Alliance Port Ltd (SAPORT) and Prime Finance.
Eastern Cables gained highest 14.81 per cent. Purabi General Insurance, Dutch-Bangla Bank, City General Insurance, Beximco Synthetic, Takaful Insurance, Navana CNG, BSRM Steel and Janata Insurance were the other top gainers.
The top losers included City Bank, Stylecraft, Jute Spinning, Legacy Footwear, Eastern Housing Ltd, Federal Insurance, ICB Islami Bank and Bangladesh Lamps.
