The stock market opened marginally higher on Sunday as investors followed a cautious approach after a big jump in the previous session.
Following the previous session’s sharp rise, the market opened higher and DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), crossed the ‘psychological’ threshold of 6,000-mark at opening.
However, it slowed down later. Within the first 30 minutes of trading, DSEX went up by 4.80 points or 0.08 per cent to reach 5,990 when the report was filed at 10:30am.
Two other indices saw a positive trend till then with the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advancing 7.15 points to reach 2,196 and the Shariah Index (DSES) gaining 0.12 points to stand 1,285 points till then.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 4.78 billion within the first 30 minutes of trading at 10:30am.
Market operators said lower returns from the money market, easing virus worries coupled with positive expectations from the upcoming budget, boosted the investors’ confidence in the market.
The high net worth investors are injecting fresh funds into the market for the past few weeks targeting capital gains as returns from the money market have declined significantly, said a leading merchant banker.
Of the issues traded till then, 158 advanced, 121 declined and 53 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor till then.
IFAD Autos was the most traded stock till then with shares worth Tk 338 million changing hands, closely followed by GSP Finance, Northern General Insurance, Jamuna Bank and Beximco.
The port city bourse – the Chittagong Stock Exchange – (CSE) also opened marginally higher with CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) gaining 5.52 points to stand at 17,353, also at 10:30am.
Of the issues traded till then 70 advanced, 62 declined and 14 remained unchanged with Tk 74 million in turnover.