Stocks witness downtrend in early trading

Desk Report: The prices of most of the shares saw a downward trend in the early hour of trading Sunday as investors were mostly on selling binge, fearing further fall of stock prices. Brokers said the ongoing pessimism coupled with fear of political unrest ahead of the upcoming national election, persuading them to sell-off their stocks.
Meanwhile, the BNP rally, scheduled to be held at the Suhrawardy Udyan today, also kept investors cautious.
Following the previous week’s sharp fall, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) initially witnessed a positive trend while the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) opened lower amid low trading activities.
Within first 15 minutes of trading, DSEX, the key index of the country’s prime bourse, advanced more than 5.0 points while the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) of port city’s bourse fell 20 points at 10:45am.
After 30 minutes of trading, the DSEX fell more than 9.0 points while the CASPI of Chattogram bourse lost 50 points at 11:00am when the report was filed.
The DSEX went down by 9.60 points or 0.17 per cent to stand 5,333 points at 11:00am.
The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, also fell 2.75 points to reach at 1,882 points till then.
The DSE Shariah Index shed 1.60 points to stand at 1,228.
Turnover, the important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 943 million on the DSE when the report was filed.
United Power was the most traded stocks till then with shares worth Tk 173 million changing hands, followed by IFAD Autos Tk 112 million, Monno Ceramic Tk 73 million, SK Trims Tk 68 million, and Asia pacific Insurance Tk 39 million.
Of the issues traded till then, 99 advanced, 112 declined, and 58 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw a negative trend till then with the CASPI losing 50 points to stand at 16,390, also at 11:00am.
The Selective Category Index (CSCX) also lost 45 points to stand at 9,913 points till then.
Of the issues traded till then, 27 gained, 46 declined, and 11 issues remained unchanged with Tk 23 million in turnover.