Stocks on both the bourses witnessed an upward trend in the early hour of trading Sunday as trading resumed after a hiatus of more than two months.
Trading and settlement activities on the bourses resumed on the day, maintaining necessary health safety guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, after a 66-day closure due to lethal COVID-19 outbreak.
The presence of investors was thin in the brokerage houses as many investors are yet to return in Dhaka after the longest closure of the market since the Liberation War.
However, many investors were executing trade through phone, said a stockbroker.
The bourses also discourage clients for rushing in the brokerage houses and encourage more for trading through mobile apps and other internet based devices due to the pandemic.
Trading will take place from 10:30am to 1:30pm, three hours instead of usual four hours, as the bourses cut one hour trading time due to coronavirus outbreak, officials said.
The country’s two bourses were closed since March 26, as the government announced general holiday as part of its efforts to contain the spread of deadly virus outbreak.
After crossing the 4,000-mark of the prime index of the DSE on March 25, the last trading day before the market closure, the DSE showed upward trend at opening today (Sunday).
Within first 30 minutes of trading, DSEX, the key index of DSE, advanced nearly 13 points while the Selective Category Index of port city bourse gained 117 points at 11:00am when the report was filed.
The DSEX then went up by 12.99 points or 0.32 per cent to stand at 4021 points at 11:00am.
The two other indices also saw a positive trend till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips advanced 15.89 points to 1346 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) gained 14 points to stand at 935 points till then.
Turnover, one of the important indicators of the market, stood at Tk 326 million when the report was filed at 11:00am.
Of the issues traded till filing of this report, 31 advanced, 46 declined and 138 remained unchanged as transactions take placed based on the floor price of the shares.
The stock market regulator – the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission – imposed circuit breaker to boost the ailing market from March 19 last.
Pharma companies lead the turnover board with Square Pharma was the most traded stocks till then with shares worth Tk 50 million changing hands, followed by Beximco, Central Pharma, Indo-Bangla Pharma and Grameenphone.
The CSE also saw an upward trend till then with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI) advancing 117 points to reach at 11,445 and the Selective Categories Index (CSCX) gaining 73 points to finish at 6,932 at 11:00am
Of the issues traded till then, 12 gained, 3 declined and 17 remained unchanged on the CSE.