Stocks opened marginally lower in early trading on Tuesday as investors continued their sell-offs on sector-wise issues amid persistently lackluster trade.
However, debutant eGeneration Ltd, which recently raised Tk 150 million through initial public offering, was frozen at 50 per cent upper circuit on the DSE within a few minutes of trading on the first day.
After the first hour of trading till 11:00 am, only one trade was executed at the halted price as investors unwilling to sell their stakes hoping for a higher price in the future.
Its share reached Tk 15, the highest allowable limit on the first day of trading, from its issue price of Tk 10 each, the DSE data shows.
Following the previous four days’ downward trend, the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Chittagong Stock Exchange opened lower with trading activities remaining low.
Within the first hour into trade, DSEX fell more than 14 points while the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) of port city’s bourse lost 65 points at 11:00 when the report was filed.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 14.36 points or 0.26 per cent to stand 5,370 points till then.
Two other indices also saw negative trend till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips fell 12.81 points to reach 2,044 and the Shariah Index (DSES) lost 2.95 points to stand 1,219 points till then.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 1.86 billion within the first hour of trading at 11:00 am.
Market analysts said the shaky investors continued their sell-offs in major stocks as a lack of positive triggers prevented investors from making fresh investment.
The market remained under pressure in the past few weeks along with sluggish turnover as investors stayed cautious amid ongoing dividend declaration by December-end companies, said a merchant banker.
Of the issues traded till then, 104 advanced, 93 declined and 87 remained unchanged.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- was the most traded stock till then with shares worth Tk 745 million changing hands, followed by BATBC, Robi, LankaBangla, and Beximco Pharma.
The port city bourse – the Chittagong Stock Exchange – (CSE) saw negative note with CSE All Share Price Index- CASPI- losing 65 points to stand at 15,499, also at 11:00 am.
Of the issues traded till then, 31 gained, 27 declined, and 18 issues remained unchanged with Tk 43 million in turnover.
