Stocks opened marginally lower on Thursday amid volatile trading as cautious investors opted for booking profit on quick-gaining issues.
Following the previous two day’s rise, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 1.92 points or 0.03 per cent to 6,294, after the first two hours of trading.
Two other indices saw a negative trend till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, shed 2.15 points to 2,239 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) lost 0.47 points to 1,374.
Market operators said the retail investors opted for booking profit on sector-specific stocks which posted gains in the recent recovery.
Most of the investors continued their portfolio rebalancing in response to the earnings disclosures of the listed companies for the latest quarter.
Most of the traded issues remained stuck at the ‘floor price’. Of the issues traded till then, 58 advanced, 111 declined, and 132 issues remained unchanged on the DSE.
Sonali Paper was the most traded stock till the filing of this report with shares worth Tk 260 million changing hands, followed by Genex Infosys, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Gemini Sea Food and Shinepukur Ceramics.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also opened marginally lower with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 12 points to stand at 18,559 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX – shed 7.0 points to reach 11,126, also at 12:00 noon.
