Stocks continue rising

Dhaka stocks continued its Monday upward trend yesterday, backed by the non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs).The benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSE General Index, rose by 30.32 points, or 1.2 percent to 2,557.09. The DSE All Share Price Index also increased by 23.21 points, or 1.1 percent to 2,128.15.All NBFIs gained yesterday, with most of them rising by more than 5 percent.The news about the NBFIs' BASEL-II coverage by the end of 2010 has propelled the sector forward over the last couple of days with impressive gains.It is expected that the NBFIs will have to increase their capital base to meet the BASEL-II provisions.The pharmaceutical sector also performed well mostly because of the big gains by Square Pharma, the share prices of which increased by 7 percent.The advancers beat the losers 162 to 73. Ten securities remained unchanged.A total of 2,72,09,615 shares worth Tk 477.16 crore changed hands on the premier bourse.Beximco topped the turnover leaders, with 19,13,700 traded shares worth Tk 57.11 crore, followed by Summit Power, Titas Gas, S Alam Cold Rolled Steels, Bextex, LankaBangla Finance, Beximco Pharma, Union Capital, Summit Alliance Port and Shinepukur Ceramics.Chittagong stocks also marked a rise yesterday. The CSE Selective Categories Index gained by 79.75 points, or 1.48 percent, to 5,448.01. The CSE All Share Index also increased by 118.85 points, or 1.43 percent, to 8,394.03.A total of 47,82,105 shares worth Tk 63.16 crore changed hands on the port city bourse. Of the traded scrips, 98 advanced, 60 declined and two remained unchanged.Beximco topped the turnover leaders with 2,30,800 shares worth Tk 6.87 crore being traded. The day's other turnover leaders were Beximco Pharma, Shinepukur Ceramics, Summit Power, AB Bank, LankaBangla Finance, Summit Alliance Port, Union Capital, Beximco Synthetics and Titas Gas.