Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Dhaka stocks finished with happy ending on Thursday as Dhaka’s benchmark index closed at high level with the hope of better-than- expected return after the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation starting from Friday.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange’s (DSE) General Index (DGEN) closed at 3058.79 points with a gain of 14.69 points or 0.48 per cent. The broader All Shares Price Index (DSI) rose 12.99 points or 0.50 per cent to end at 2570.19. The DSE-20 blue chip index was up by 10.05 points or 0.46 per cent to finish at 2163.14.

The market started upbeat in the morning, rising steadily and crossing the 3065 mark at around noon. For the next one and a half hours, it dropped, pulled down by the loss in mutual funds and energy sectors. The market picked up again and finished positive.

The insurance, banking and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) issues gained. But mutual funds retraced form their gaining streak. The pharmaceuticals sector finished mixed. All the companies in the Beximco Group gained on the day.

The day’s turnover also increased to stand at BDT 5.81 billion, an increase of 7.0 percent over the previous session’s BDT 5.43 billion.

Gainers took a strong lead over the losers as out of 237 issues traded, 152 gained, 77 declined and eight remained unchanged, according to the DSE report.

Share prices of Marico, the subsidiary of a Mumbai-based group that made debut the previous day, rose 3.55 per cent to close at BDT 364.00 a share.

BBN/SS/SI/AD-18September09-12:44 am (BST)