Business Desk :
The stock market opened higher on Thursday as investors kept their buying interest on sector-wise issues just ahead of unveiling the national budget.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will unveil the national budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 at 3:00pm on Thursday.
The Finance Minister is likely to propose a cut to the corporate tax rate for both listed and non-listed companies by 2.50 percentage points which will help to boost companies’ profitability.
Following the previous day’s moderate rise, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 13.36 points or 0.20 per cent to stand at 6,497, after the first hour of trading at 11:00am.
Two other DSE indices also saw positive trend till then with the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, gaining 4.46 points to reach 2,358 and the Shariah Index (DSES) rose 3.18 points to stand at 1,416.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 2.33 billion after the first hour of trading at 11:00am.
Of the issues traded till then, 191 advanced, 119 declined and 63 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Shinepukur Ceramics was the most traded stock till the filing of this report with shares worth Tk 205 million changing hands, closely followed by Beximco, Anwar Galvanizing, Provati Insurance and Lub-rref Bangladesh.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange also saw a positive trend till then with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)-gaining 22 points to stand at 19,046 while the Selective Categories Index – CSCX – rose 14 points to reach 11,422 at 11:00am.
Of the issues traded till then, 67 advanced, 60 declined and 26 remained unchanged with Tk 34 million in turnover.
