Retailers trade at Dhaka Stock Exchange office. BBN file photo

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Bangladesh’s stocks extended the gaining spell for the third straight session on Monday as investors showed their buying appetite on Grameenphone (GP) shares.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,227, gaining 10.72 points or 0.20 per cent over the previous session.

The market kept gaining as investors are taking fresh position in fundamentally strong issues like GP, according to market operators.

GP, the largest market-cap listed company’s share price surged 2.17 per cent to close at BDT 323.90 each on Monday.

GP, which accounted for more than 14 per cent market-cap of DSE, largely contributed to the index gain as GP alone added 14.81 points to the DSEX, they added.

The market started on a positive note and the upward trend sustained till end of the session amid late hours sale pressure. Finally it ended more than 10 points higher.

Two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 5.46 points to finish at 1,847 and the DSES (Shariah) index rose 4.95 points to settle at 1,202.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at BDT 4.85 billion, which was nearly 50 per cent higher than the previous day’s turnover of BDT 3.24 billion.

The pharmaceuticals sector continued to dominate the turnover board, grabbing 20 per cent of the day’s total turnover, followed by engineering and textile, accounting for 12 per cent each.

On the other hand, the Chittagong Stock Exchange also closed higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI – advancing 41 points to settle at 15,998 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX -gaining 22 points to finish at 9,718.

The gainers beat the losers as 121 issues nudged higher, 109 drifted lower and 39 remained unchanged at the CSE.

The port city bourse traded 6.65 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than 227 million in turnover.

BBN/SSR/AD