Stocks witnessed marginal gain in early trading on Monday as investors mostly followed cautious stance amid worsening pandemic situation in the country.
Within 30 minutes of trading, DSEX advanced more than 5.0 points while the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) of port city’s bourse rose 5.80 points at 10:30 am when the report was filed.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 5.48 points or 0.13 per cent to stand 3,979 points at 10:30 am.
Two other induces also saw positive trend till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 0.46 points to reach at 1,332 and DSE Shariah Index rose 1.97 points to stand at 923 points till then.
Turnover, the important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 144 million on DSE when the report was filed at 10:30 am.
Market analysts said the investors remained cautious – owing to uncertainty looming over the economy due to the pandemic and no positive signal for the capital market development in the proposed budget.
The investors were worried about the adverse impact of worsening Covid-19 pandemic and the regulator-enforced floor price system which prevented investors from selling shares of most of the companies, said a merchant banker.
Beximco Pharma was the most traded stocks till then with shares worth Tk 48 million changing hands, closely followed by BSCCL, City Bank, Indo-Bangla Pharma, and Wata Chemicals.
The port city’s bourse – the Chittagong Stock Exchange – (CSE) also saw positive trend till then with the CSE All Share Price Index- CASPI-advancing 5.80 points to stand at 11,289 points, also at 10:30am.
The Selective Category Index – CSCX – also advanced 2.70 points to stand at 6,832 points till then.
Of the issues traded till then, 11 advanced, 4 declined and 44 issues remained unchanged with Tk 4.80 million in turnover.