Stocks witnessed a downward trend in early hours of trading on Thursday, the first session of the fiscal year (FY) 2020-21, as investors mostly followed the cautious stance.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), lost 1,432 points or 26.56 per cent in the outgoing financial year.
The parliament passed the tax measures for FY 2020-21, reducing the lock-in period for undisclosed money investment in stocks to one year from initially-proposed three years.
Within first hour of trading, DSEX fell more than 7.0 points while the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) of port city’s bourse lost 10 points at 11:00am when the report was filed.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 7.33 points or 0.18 per cent to stand 3,981 points at 11:00 am.
Two other indices also saw a downward trend till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 3.11 points to reach at 1,337 and DSE Shariah Index shed 2.34 points to stand at 922 points till then.
Turnover, the important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 288 million on DSE when the report was filed at 11:00 am.
Market operators said the investors were worried about the adverse impact of worsening pandemic situation with looming uncertainty about economic growth and the regulator-enforced floor price system.
Lack of institutional buyers coupled with the current floor price limitation is preventing many investors from selling shares, said a merchant banker.
Beximco Pharma was the most traded stocks till then with shares worth Tk 60 million changing hands, closely followed by BSCCL, Wata Chemicals, Indo-Bangla Pharma, and Central Pharma.
The port city’s bourse – the Chittagong Stock Exchange – (CSE) also saw a downward trend till then with the CSE All Share Price Index- CASPI-losing 10 points to stand at 11,322 points, also at 11:00 am.
The Selective Category Index – CSCX – also lost 7.0 points to stand at 6,855 points till then.
Of the issues traded till then, 15 advanced, 13 declined and 33 issues remained unchanged with Tk 8.41 million in turnover.
Sonali Paper & Board Mills starts trading on main boards on the DSE and CSE from today under “Z” category, after the remaining 10 years in the OTC market.
