Stocks witness steep fall at open

Stocks witnessed a sharp fall in the early hours of trading on Sunday as worried investors continued their selling binge on major sectors’ shares, fearing further fall.

Following the previous week’s sharp decline, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) opened on a downturn amid low trading activities.

Within 15 minutes of trading, DSEX, the key index of DSE, fell more than 78 points while the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) of port city’s bourse lost 145 points at 10:45 am.

After 30 minutes of trading, the DSEX lost more than 39 points while the CASPI of Chattogram bourse fell 124 points at 11:00 am when the report was filed.

The  DSEX went down by 39.68 points or 0.88 percent to stand at 4,440 points at that time.

Two other indices also saw a steep fall till then. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 12 points to reach at 1,480 and the DSE Shariah Index shed 14 points to stand at 1,030 points till then.

Turnover, one of the important indicators of the market, stood at Tk 1.12 billion on DSE when the report was filed at 11:00 am.

VFS Thread Dyeing was the most traded stock till then with shares worth Tk 63 million changing hands, closely followed by Square Pharma, LafargeHolcim, Golden Harvest Agro, and Orion Pharma.

Of the issues traded till then, 61 advanced, 235 declined, and 42 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw a downward trend till then with the CASPI losing 124 points to stand at 13,618 points, also at 11:00 am.

The Selective Category Index (CSCX) also shed 77 points to stand at 8,255 points till then.

Of the issues traded till then, 21 advanced, 83 declined, and 9 issues remained unchanged with Tk 22 million in turnover.