Stocks down at opening with thin participation

Stocks opened lower in early trading on Sunday, with participation of investors remaining low, as investors were mostly reluctant to invest in shares to avoid further capital erosion.

Investors preferred to trim their equity exposures and adopted a wait-and-see approach amid uncertainties surrounding earnings declarations for June-ending companies, market operators said.

A series of strict regulatory measures, policy changes, and rising interest rates have dampened investor sentiment, contributing to the ongoing market plunge, said a leading broker, requesting not to be named.

Following the major setback in the previous day, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by more than 27 points or 0.52 per cent to 5,230 within the first two hours of trading at 12:00 noon.

The blue-chip DS30 index, a group of 30 prominent companies, also fell 10 points to 1,919 and the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, dropped 5 points to 1,169 till then.

Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at only Tk 1.32 billion till then.

Of the issues traded till then, 237 declined, 91 advanced, and 65 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor till then.

Lovello Ice-cream was the most traded stock till then with shares worth Tk 178 million changing hands, following its corporate declaration, followed by Standard Bank, NRB bank, Brac Bank and Agni Systems.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange also saw a negative trend till then with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 105 points to stand at 14,716 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shed 59 points to reach 8,953 till then.

[email protected]