Stocks witnessed a downward trend in early hours trading on Wednesday as investors mostly followed cautious stance after corporate declarations of most of the companies.
Following the previous day’s negative note, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw negative note in early trading.
Within the first 30 minutes of trading, the DSE key index fell more than 10 points while the CSE All Share Price Index- CASPI lost more than 4.0 points at 10:30am when the report was filed.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 10.84 points or 0.22 per cent to reach 4,888 points at 10:30am.
Two other indices also saw negative trend till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 2.15 points to reach at 1,701 and the Shariah Index (DSES) lost 1.02 points to reach 1,111 points till then.
Market operators said the cautious investors opted for booking profits on sector-wise issues while the bargain hunters remained active on stocks that declared satisfactory dividend and quarterly earnings.
Many investors moved to the primary market as three IPOs, one is biggest ever, is set to hit the market soon. Many investors have already disposed of shares of other companies, while some are collecting funds to join the IPO bonanza, said a merchant banker.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 1.67 billion when the report was filed at 10:30am.
Of the issues traded till then, 86 advanced, 129 declined and 79 remained unchanged.
Beximco Pharma was the most traded stocks till then with shares worth Tk 248 million changing hands, closely followed by Provati Insurance, NCC Bank First Mutual Fund, NLI First Mutual Fund and BD Finance.
The port city bourse – the Chittagong Stock Exchange – (CSE) saw downward trend till then with CSE All Share Price Index- CASPI-losing 4.80 points to stand at 14,060, also at 10:30am.
The Selective Categories Index – CSCX also shed 12 points to reach 8,453 till then.
Of the issues traded till then, 41 gained, 46 declined, and 24 issues remained unchanged with Tk 28 million in turnover.
