Dhaka, Feb. 19 -- Stocks opened higher on Monday after remaining down in the past five trading days, as bargain hunters put fresh funds on lucrative shares in anticipation of quick gain.

Following the previous five days' downturn, the key index of the prime bourse went up by 20 points to 6,303 after the first hour of trading at 11:00 am, when the report was filed.

Market experts said stocks surged driven by increased buying activity across the trading floor, particularly the selective large-cap stocks such as Best Holdings, Brac Bank, Walton, LafargeHolcim, Square Pharma and ICB.

The DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, gained 6 points to 1,375 and the DS30 Index, which consists of blue-chip companies, jumped 14 points...