Stocks on both the bourses witnessed a downward trend in the early trading on Thursday thanks to the profit-booking tendency of some investors on sector-wise quick-gaining stocks.
Following the previous day’s downturn, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw a negative trend this morning amid lower trading activities.
Within the first 30 minutes of trading, the DSE key index fell more than 19 points while the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) lost 17 points at 10:30 am when the report was filed.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 19.10 points or 0.37 per cent to reach at 5,103 points at 10:30 am.
Two other indices also saw a negative note till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 12.39 points to reach at 1,793 while the Shariah Index (DSES) shed 6.0 points to stand at 1,179 points till then.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 1.31 billion when the report was filed at 10:30 am.
Market analysts said a large number of investors have been trying to book profits as stocks of many companies witnessed a rise of 10-15 per cent in the last four trading days.
The cautious investors liquidated their investment, particularly in banking and financial institution sectors, as the central bank directed the commercial banks to keep an extra 1.0 per cent in provisioning than what they now maintain for their unclassified loans, said a merchant banker.
Accordingly, most banking stocks have been seeing a selling pressure, fuelled by apprehensions of a reduction of profits of lenders centring a Bangladesh Bank decision directing them to keep aside extra provisioning, he said.
Of the issues traded on the DSE till then, 125 advanced, 107 declined, and 81 remained unchanged.
JMI Syringe topped the turnover chart till then with shares worth Tk 105 million changing hands, following the news that the company is exporting 15 million syringes to Indonesia for Covid-19 vaccination.
It was closely followed by Dominage Steel, National Polymer, Beximco and Beximco Pharma.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw a downward trend till then with the CASPI losing 17 points to stand at 14,706, also at 10:30 am.
The Selective Categories Index (CSCX) also lost 10 points to reach at 8,859 till then.
Of the issues traded till then, 23 gained, 28 declined, and 21 issues remained unchanged with Tk 31 million in turnover.
