Budgetary hopes kept stocks afloat for a second straight week as some investors put fresh funds on sector-wise securities, with an eye on the national budget.
Market analysts said the capital market witnessed a positive trend as regulatory steps along with positive expectations from the national budget encouraged investors to put fresh funds on lucrative stocks.
Most of the investors were busy buying sector-wise issues including general insurance, banks and non-bank financial institutions issues throughout the week that pushed the market up, they mentioned.
Investors were taking position on the sector-specific issues anticipating a corporate tax cut in the national budget, they added.
The Finance Minister has proposed to cut corporate tax for listed and non-listed companies by 2.5 percent in the proposed budget for the FY 2022-23 on condition that all receipts and incomes must be transacted through bank transfer.
The Finance Minister has proposed a tax rate of 20 percent in place of existing 22.5 per cent for listed companies that issue shares worth more than 10 percent of their paid-up capital through initial public offering.
The DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went up by 28.77 points or 0.45 percent to close at 6,480.30. The DSEX increased by more than 242 points in the past two weeks.
The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, rose 3.30 points to close at 2,352.38 while the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) advanced 1.98 points to finish at 1,413.76.
The week's total turnover also increased to Tk 43.42 billion on the prime bourse as against Tk 39.26 billion in the week before.
The daily average turnover stood at Tk 8.68 billion, up by 10.59 percent from the previous week's average of Tk 7.85 billion.
Out of 389 issues traded on the DSE, 206 advanced, 157 declined and 26 remained unchanged.
Paramount Insurance was the week's top gainer, posting a 26.41 percent gain, while Trust Bank was the worst loser, declining 12.34 percent.
On the other hand, the port city bourse, the Chattogram Stock Exchange (CSE) was slightly lower with its selective category index (CSCX) losing 91 points in the last week to close at 11,410 points.
The All-Share Price Index (CASPI) of the CSE was also lower by 134 points to close at 19,025 points.
Of the 354 issues traded, 197 advanced, 132 declined and 25 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city's bourse traded 4.45 crore shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of Tk 130 crore during the last week.
