Stocks witnessed a mixed trend in the early trading on Thursday amid persistent volatility as investors put money cautiously on selective issues ahead of monetary policy statements.
The Bangladesh Bank is scheduled to unveil the monetary policy statement (MPS) for the fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 today (Thursday).
The investors adopted a cautious stance amid the possibility of tighter monetary policy statements.
Following the previous day’s marginal gain, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 4.23 points or 0.06 per cent to stand at 6,354, after the first hour of trading at 11:00 am.
However, two other DSE indices saw marginal loss till then with the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, losing 3.77 points to reach 2,291 and the Shariah Index (DSES) fell 0.95 points to 1,384.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 1.96 billion at 11:00 am.
Market operators said some of the investors preferred to book profit while some others took the opportunity of buying shares at lucrative prices as the fiscal year ends today.
The small investors are struggling amid persistent volatility in the market, they said.
Of the issues traded till then, 181 advanced, 113 declined, and 81 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Shinepukur Ceramics was the most traded stock till the filing of this report with shares worth Tk 143 million changing hands, closely followed by Orion Pharma, Intraco Refueling Station, Hamid Fabrics and Salvo Chemicals.
However, the Chittagong Stock Exchange opened marginally lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 9.0 points to stand at 18,680 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX – fell 5.0 points to reach 11,198, also at 11:00 am.
Of the issues traded till then, 85 declined, 57 advanced and 30 remained unchanged with turnover of Tk 57 million.