Market operators said rallying of shares in bank, power and pharmaceutical companies with occasional falls last month helped the general index cross 2000 points.

"Bigger participation of institutional and foreign investors is the main reason behind bullish trend in the market," said Ahmad Rashid Lali, senior vice-president of DSE.

He said institutional investors' participation in recent days accounted for around 65 percent of the total trade.

Earlier, the benchmark index reached highest 1999.71 points on January 1, 2005, according to the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

The DSE authorities introduced the index on November 27, 2001 with a base of 817.62 points. The index, which excludes companies of 'Z' category, is calculated on the basis of price movement of individual stocks under 'A', 'B', 'G' and 'N' categories.

Previously, there was only one index that included all securities of the stock exchange. Starting with a base of 350 points, the index rose as high as 3648.75 points on November 5, 1996 when the market witnessed a 'bubble and bust'.

The DSE All Share Price Index was reintroduced on March 28, 2005 and the DSE-20 was introduced on January 1, 2001.

DSE market capitalisation also rose to its all time high at Tk 44,088 crore yesterday. Earlier on May 27, the market capitalisation hit Tk 43,486 crore. On May 3, the market indicator crossed Tk 40,000 crore mark for the first time in the history of the country's stock market.

According to Bangladesh Bank statistics, during July-March period of the current fiscal year the portfolio investment in the country's stock market increased 212 percent to US$50 million, compared to $16 million during the same period a year earlier.

The senior vice-president of the DSE however urged the investors not to invest on the basis of rumours.

He also said the DSE is closely monitoring the market transactions to check any abnormality.

The DSE All Share Price Index went up by 36.76 points, or 2.26 percent, to close at 1658.36 points.

The total turnover on the premier bourse stood at Tk 170.18 crore while most of the issues gained. Of the issues traded, 123 advanced, 46 declined and 20 remained unchanged. A total of 9,861,043 shares changed hands on the DSE.