The DSE General Index (DGEN) crossed slight above the 2000-line on the board, but corrected a bit low to close at 1999.71 points.

The benchmark index registered 28.40 points or 1.42 percent increase yesterday to embrace the new year from 1971 points on Thursday, the last trading day of the previous year.

The DSE-20 index for selective shares also rose 18.74 points or 0.86 percent to close at 2177 points yesterday.

"The day's rise was nothing but a continuation of the normal uptrend of the previous year," a market analyst said.

The DGEN first crossed the 1900 mark on November 24, 2004, went down below the mark on December 4 following a market correction and the following day it again crossed the mark.

In yesterday's trading, some 3,095,052 shares and debentures worth Tk 363.5 million changed hands, and of the 178 issues traded, 76 advanced, 81 declined and 21 remained unchanged. Market capitalisation stood at Tk 227 billion.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the stock-market regulator, yesterday suspended share trading of two listed companies--Metalex Corporation and Eagle Star --as operations of the companies remained closed for a long period.

The suspension order will be effective from today.

With the new ones, the list of suspended companies rose to eight as the regulators continued their efforts to clean up the non-performing companies from the market.

The other companies having faced suspension were Meghna Pet, Meghna Condensed Milk, Amam Sea, Tripti, Eagle Box and Chittagong Vegetables.