Dhaka stocks advanced for the 10th day on Thursday with the turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange surging as investors increased share buying amid the gradual reopening of economic activities in the country.

DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, added 1.33 per cent, or 57.67 points, to close at 4,364.83 points on the day.

The board of directors of the DSE on Thursday decided to increase the bourse’s trading hours by 30 minutes with an effect from August 9.

The DSEX added 288.17 points in the last 10 sessions, the longest rally seen after January last year.

The 10-day surge recovered Tk 16,837.74 crore in market capitalisation.

The key index started gaining from the very beginning on Thursday’s session and climbed firmly as the time progressed as investors increased investments in the market amid growing confidence, market operators said.

After a prolonged bearishness, the market has been gaining sharply in recent days that provoked investors to inject fresh funds in the market, they said.

The investors’ participation continued rising as the turnover on the bourse advanced to Tk 836.53 crore on Thursday compared with that of Tk 718.34 crore in the previous trading session. The turnover was below mostly Tk 100 crore in June.

Textile companies got the most attention on Thursday as the country’s exports in July earned $3.91 billion, the highest-ever earnings in a single month in the country’s history.

The media reported that 55 per cent of fashion brands in the United States had expressed their interest to expand sourcing from Bangladesh in the next two years.

Besides, the monthly inflow of remittance reached $2.60 billion in July, hitting an all-time high.

Investors also expected that the Bangladesh Bank’s expansionary monetary policy would reduce deposit rate to 4-5 per cent and cut yield from treasury bonds that would encourage the depositors to invest in the capital market.

The central bank unveiled the monetary policy for the fiscal year 2020-2021 on July 29, bringing down the bank rate to 4 per cent from 5 per cent and repo rate from 5.25 per cent to 4.75 per cent to make funds available for banks at a cheaper rate.

The mechanism is expected to amplify fund flow in the financial market.

Share market analysts and United International University professor Mohammad Musa told New Age that it seemed that the export sector tackled the coronavirus impact and the remittance inflow jumped last month, showing betterment of the economy.

It seems that the country’s economy would rebound quickly if the coronavirus spread can be checked, he said.

‘Investors have also regained confidence in the market after the appointment of a new commission,’ Musa said.

Life Insurance continued surging as the sector gained 3.55 per cent on Thursday while general insurance faced price correction as the sector lost 2.83 per cent on the day.

Market operators said that some investors turned their focus to companies which were stuck at floor prices.

So, the engineering sector shot up by 4.09 per cent as share prices of most of the companies from the sector remained near floor prices.

EBL Securities in its daily market commentary said ‘Investors showed their buying enthusiasm following the expansionary monetary policy stated by the central bank and gradual improvement of economic activities that encouraged investors to take positions in sector-wise stocks.’

The coronavirus cases continued surging as the death toll from the virus rose to 3,306 and the number of total infections stood at 2,49,651 as on Thursday, making some investors hesitant about investing in the market.

Of the 344 scrips traded on the DSE on Thursday, 219 advanced, 79 declined, and 55 remained unchanged.

DSE blue-chip index DS30 also gained 1.61 per cent, or 23.46 points, to close at 1,475.87 points on the day.

The DSES index added 1.37 per cent, or 13.68 points, to settle at 1,011.1 points.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals led the turnover chart with its shares worth Tk 43.3 crore changing hands on the day.

As per the DSE board’s decision, trading on the bourse will start from 10:00am and continue till 2.30pm from August 9.

DSE officials said that the bourse extended the trading hours by 30 minutes as the market remained shut for 66 days from March 29 to May 30 amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The market intermediaries and investors demanded the extension, the officials said.