Stocks opened lower on Sunday as the risk-averse investors continued on selling binge on sector-specific issues ahead of the year-end earnings and dividend declarations.
Following the previous week’s downturn, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 17.18 points or 0.24 per cent to stand at 6,974, after the first hour of trading at 11:00 am.
Two other DSE indices also saw a downward trend till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, dropped 10.13 points to reach 2,563 and the Shariah Index (DSES) shed 1.26 points to stand at 1,506.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 2.15 billion within the first hour of trading as against Tk 2.41 billion in the first hour trading of the previous day.
Market insiders said the latest circular of Bangladesh Bank regarding non-bank financial institutions' capital market exposure limit created panic among them.
The central bank brought the non-banking financial institutions under its regular monitoring and fixed the instruments which will be considered as stock market investment for NBFIs, according to the BB circular issued on Tuesday.
All listed shares, debenture, corporate bonds, mutual funds and other products at market prices shall be considered as share market investment for the NBFIs.
The loans to their subsidiary companies that are doing direct or indirect business with the stock market will also be considered as stock market investments.
The NBFIs have been asked to submit reports on capital-market investments to Bangladesh Bank on a quarterly basis.
Meanwhile, of the issues traded till then, 188 declined, 114 advanced, and 65 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco was the most traded stock till the filing of this report with shares worth Tk 121 million changing hands, closely followed by Orion Pharma, Fortune Shoes, Yeakin Polymer and Sonali Paper.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also opened lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 31 points to stand at 20,428, while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shed 18 points to reach 12,264 at 11:00 am.
Of the issues traded till then, 76 declined, 54 advanced, and 19 remained unchanged with Tk 42 million in turnover.