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After a challenging year 2023, stocks opened the New Year on a mixed trend on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of the national election.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 3.95 points to 6,250 after the first two hours of trading at 12:00 noon, the first trading day of 2024.
The DS30 Index, which consists of blue-chip companies, shed 0.46 points to 2,093 while the DSES index, which represents Shariah-based companies, fell 0.32 points to 1,363.
Turnover also stood at Tk 1.85 billion after the first two hours of trading as investors were not confident enough to put fresh funds into stocks due mainly to the floor price.
Small-cap stock BD Thai Aluminum became the most-traded stocks till then with shares worth Tk 176 million changing, followed by Sea Pearl Beach, Olympic Accessories, and Khulna Printing.
Of the issues traded till then, 108 advanced, 50 declined and 148 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
However, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) opened lower with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI – losing 7.7 points to 18,512 after two hours of trading.
Meanwhile, the market had been in the doldrums throughout 2023 since the stock market regulator imposed floor price, with some periodic upward movements that failed to sustain.
The stock market is stuck well below the expected level as price restriction dented investors’ confidence while many good stocks remained un-traded for months.
The real picture of the index could not be seen in 2023 due to the floor price.