Stocks rally for eighth day amid lockdown

Stocks edged higher amid volatility Thursday, extending the winning streak for the eighth straight session.

Amid the shortened trading hours, the market opened marginally higher and moved between red and green in the first session of the trade.

The benchmark DSEX index added over 11 points or 0.21% to 5,435.

Other indices, the Shariah-based DSES index rose marginally almost 4 points or 0.31% to 1,237 and the blue-chip DS30 index gained 4 points or 0.19% to 2,087.

The insurance sector continued to show the robust performance with a gain of more than 1%. Among the top ten gainers, seven came from the general insurance sector.

Among other major sectors, banks, NBFIs, pharmaceuticals and mutual funds witnessed modest rise while telecommunications, engineering, and energy stocks witnessed moderate fall.

The turnover stood at over Tk 883 crore, up 13.73% over the previous session’s Tk 776.67 crore.

General Insurance sector attracted most investors as it made up 32% of the total turnover.

Out of 354 issues traded, 143 advanced, 135 declined and 76 remained unchanged.

The most traded stocks included Beximco Limited, Beximco Pharma, Lanka Bangla Finance, BD Finance, Robi, BATBC, Asia Pacific Insurance, Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh Limited, Purabi General Insurance and Square Pharma.

The two-and-a-half hours transaction has been taking place on the DSE since April 5 under an all-out lockdown imposed to prevent coronavirus infection until 28.