Stocks witnessed a marginal rise in the early trading on Thursday as most of the investors remained on the sidelines amid lack of clear market direction.
Following the previous four days’ fall, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 10.41 points or 0.15 per cent to stand at 6,908 points within the first hour of trading at 11:00 am.
Two other DSE indices saw positive trends till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 6.50 points to stand at 2,592 and the Shariah Index (DSES) rose 1.50 points to stand at 1,462 points till then.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, remained low and amounted to Tk 2.54 billion within the first hour of trading at 11:00 am.
Market analysts said the institutional investors might have hesitated to take a fresh stake in the market while the retail investors continued their profit booking sell-offs amid lack of clear market direction.
Of the issues traded till then, 174 advanced, 110 declined and 71 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
LafargeHolcim was the most traded stock till the filing of this report with shares worth Tk 211 million changing hands, closely followed by BATBC, Orion Pharma, Beximco and IFIC Bank.
However, the Chittagong Stock Exchange saw a negative trend till then with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)—losing 8.0 points to stand at 20,179 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shed 4.0 points to reach 12,122, also at 11:00 am.
Of the issues traded till then, 45 advanced, 69 declined and 22 remained unchanged with Tk 66 million in turnover.
