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Stocks witnessed a mixed trend in early trading on Thursday amid thin participation of investors as they are gearing up for Robi’s initial public offering (IPO).
The subscription of the biggest IPO in the history of Bangladesh started Tuesday and will continue until November 23. The company would raise Tk 5.23 billion under the fixed price method.
Following the previous day’s price fall, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) saw a downturn while the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw positive note at opening.
Within the first 30 minutes of trading, the DSE key index lost more than 14 points while the CSE All Share Price Index- CASPI advanced nearly 8.0 points at 10:30 am when the report was filed.
DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 14.38 points or 0.29 per cent to reach 4,875 points at 10:30 am.
Market insiders said many institutional and general investors were selling shares to set aside funds for the subscription of Robi Axiata, taking index and turnover low.
Due to the overflow of the IPOs, the secondary market remained slow in recent weeks as investors gave their attention to the primary market to collect at least an IPO lot to book some short-term profit, said a merchant banker.
He noted that a section of investors are also reluctant to make fresh investment in stocks amid the rising trend of Covid-19 infections in recent days.
Two other indices also saw a downward trend till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 6.26 points to reach at 1,693 and the Shariah Index (DSES) shed 2.10 points to reach 1,124 points till then.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk only Tk 549 million when the report was filed at 10:30 am.
Of the issues traded till then, 115 advanced, 82 declined and 68 remained unchanged.
Beximco Pharma was the most traded stocks till then with shares worth Tk 66 million changing hands, closely followed by Apex Foods, Associated Oxygen, BD Lamps and National Feed Mills.
However, the port city bourse – the Chittagong Stock Exchange –saw positive trend till then with CSE All Share Price Index- CASPI-gaining 8.0 points to stand at 13,993, also at 10:30 am.
The Selective Categories Index – CSCX also advanced 4.74 points to reach 8,426 till then.
Of the issues traded till then, 30 gained, 21 declined, and 9 issues remained unchanged with Tk 12 million in turnover.