Dhaka stocks gained slightly in the past week, as investors remained active on the buying side following media reports of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh securing a sovereign guarantee for a Tk聽3,000 crore loan, market operators said.
With the past week, the market advanced for three weeks after a five-week fall.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, gained 39 points, or 0.73 per cent, in the past week to end at 5,355.33 points.
The DSEX gained 240.73 points in the past three weeks after losing about 620 points in the previous five weeks.
The Finance Division on November 13 said that it had provided a sovereign guarantee on Tk聽3000 crore loan from the Bangladesh Bank to the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh to overcome its liquidity shortage.
Furthermore, finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on October 30 said immediate steps would be taken to solve the existing crises of the country鈥檚 stock market.
However, stockbrokers said that higher bank interest rates made it more appealing to invest in fixed-income options instead of the stock market.
The daily average turnover on the DSE decreased in the past week to reach Tk聽554.02 crore compared with that of Tk 605.81 crore in the previous week.
Of the 384 issues traded in the past week, 148 increased, 205 decreased and 31 stayed the same.
Investors were mostly active in pharmaceutical scrips, followed by bank and textile shares.
EBL Securities in its weekly market commentary said, 鈥楾he market remained volatile throughout the week as both buyers and sellers remained active on both sides of the trading fence to grab the realm of market momentum.鈥�
However, the media reports regarding sovereign guarantee for a loan to ICB, part of which would be used to provide liquidity support to the capital market, stimulated buyers鈥� interest further and led the buyers to emerge as the dominant side by the end of the week, it added.
The DS30 index increased by 20.87 points, or 1.06 per cent, to finish at 1,986.41 points.
The DSE Shariah index gained 1.61 points, or 0.14 per cent, to close at 1,189.52 points in the past week.
Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Orion Pharma topped the average weekly turnover chart with shares worth Tk聽24.30 crore changing hands per session.
Beximco Pharmaceuticals, United Finance, United Insurance, Islami Bank Bangladesh, MJL Bangladesh, Square Pharmaceuticals, Far East Knitting & Dyeing Industries, Orion Pharma and Beach Hatchery were the other turnover leaders.
