Dhaka stocks witnessed a downward trend in early trading on Sunday despite the securities regulator having imposed a new circuit breaker to boost the ailing capital market.
Trading will be held between 10:30am to 1:30pm until further notice.
Investors were fewer than usual on the trading floor due to mounting fears over coronavirus outbreak and many were executing their trade over mobile phone, said a stockbroker.
Within 30 minutes of trading, DSEX, prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), fell more than 13 points while Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE)'s All Share Price Index (CASPI), advanced 11 points at 11:00am when the report was filed.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 13.98 points or 0.35 per cent to stand 3,960 points at 11:00am.
Two other indices also saw a downturn till then.
DS30 index, comprising blue chips, shed 4.41 points to reach 1,321 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 1.20 points to stand at 918 points till then.
Turnover, an important indicator of the market, stood at only Tk 190 million on DSE when the report was filed at 11:00am.
Monno Ceramic was the most traded stocks till then with shares worth Tk 28 million changing hands, closely followed by Square Pharma, Aziz Pipes, Southeast Bank and Mercantile Bank.
Of the issues traded till then, only 14 advanced, 168 declined and 112 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
However, CSE saw a positive trend till then with CASPI advancing 11 points to stand at 11,146 points, also at 11:00am.
The port city bourse's Selective Category Index – CSCX – also gained 7.0 points to stand at 6,753 points till then.
Of the issues traded till then, 13 advanced, nil declined and 91 issues remained unchanged with Tk 11 million in turnover.