The stock market took a positive turn on Tuesday after experiencing one of the gloomiest sessions on Monday.

Moderate recovery came riding on the news that three more banks have expressed the intention of using the special fund from Bangladesh Bank to invest in the capital market.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, surged 148 points, or 3.7 percent, to close the day at 4,156, after hitting the record low of 4,008 in the previous session.

The Shariah-based DSES index also gained 31 points, or 3.4 percent, to settle at 960, while the blue-chip index DS30 advanced 44 points, or 3.3 percent, to stand at 1,390.

At the Chittagong Stock Exchange, the benchmark index Caspi advanced 343 points, or 2.8 percent, to close at 12,672.

The market posted a sharp gain during the early hours of trade but fell slightly afterwards. However, it then again picked up momentum in the intraday performance graphs and continued the gaining trend till the end of the session, keeping the indices buoyant.

Investors seized the opportunity to invest in sector-specific stocks that hit a lucrative price level after the previous day's overcorrection, stated the Daily Market Review of EBL Securities Ltd.

Meanwhile, three banks – United Commercial Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank and state-owned Sonali Bank – recently informed the Bangladesh Bank that they had formed special funds for the stock market as part of the central bank's move to form such funds to support the ailing capital market.

According to the Daily Market Review of EBL Securities Ltd, the news of these three banks forming special funds for the stock market also played a vital role in boosting investor confidence on Tuesday.

Apart from the three banks, several other banks including Dhaka Bank, Rupali Bank, Agrani Bank, Janata Bank and The City Bank are going through the process of setting up special funds.

All the sectors exhibited significant gains on Tuesday with the travel sector facing the highest price appreciation of 7.1 percent, and telecom registering the least appreciation of 1.4 percent in the sector return board.

Among the other large-cap sectors, financial institutions gained 5.4 percent price, banks gained 3.3 percent, and pharmaceuticals sector advanced 3.1 percent.

The market review further said that although the market took a positive turn on Tuesday, investors were still apprehensive about the coronavirus and its impact on the Bangladesh economy for which turnover at both the bourses have declined.

Turnover at the DSE decreased 34 percent to Tk328.3 crore on Tuesday, from Tk499.4 crore in the previous session. Turnover at the port city bourse went down 82 percent from Tk70.3 crore to Tk12.7 crore.

The pharmaceuticals sector contributed the most, 22.6 percent, to the total turnover value, followed by engineering stocks adding 13.9 percent and the textile sector adding 11.2 percent in the sector-wise turnover distribution board.

Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd topped the turnover chart with a turnover value of Tk15.2 crore, closing the day at Tk178.3 per share. The stock was followed by Orion Infusion Ltd with a turnover value of Tk6.9 crore, closing at Tk72.2 per share.

Bangladesh National Insurance Company Ltd, ICB AMCL Sonali Bank Ltd 1st Mutual Fund and Janata Insurance Company Ltd were the best performers in the gainers' table, all gaining 10 percent and closing at Tk19.8, Tk7.7 and Tk15.4 per share respectively, said the DSE website.

Singer Bangladesh Ltd on the other hand, was the day's worst loser after shedding 7.5 percent, closing at Tk154.6 per share.

Gainers were sharply ahead of the losers as out of the 356 issues traded, 323 advanced, only 15 declined, and only 18 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.