Stocks continued to rise yesterday on the back of the news of compensation by the government to around 9.33 lakh small investors hit by the stock market turmoil.

The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DGEN, closed the day at 4,551.21 points, having risen by 150.47 points from the previous day.

“SEC's decision to implement the recommended 50 percent interest waiver on margin loan and 20 percent special quota allocation in initial public offerings for small investors acted as the catalyst for the uptrend,” said LankaBangla Securities in its market analysis.

Turnover stood at Tk 277 crore, a considerable 71.16 percent increase from the previous day.

A total of 0.85 lakh trades were executed, with 5.86 crore shares and mutual fund units changing hands at the Dhaka bourse.

Of the major sectors, banks, at 4.01 percent, gained the most, followed by non-bank financial institutions at 3.51 percent, power 2.85 percent, telecommunications 1.34 percent and pharmaceuticals 2.46 percent.

Of the 271 issues that traded on the DSE, 257 advanced, six declined and seven remained unchanged.

Grameenphone was the most traded stock of the day, with 11.31 lakh shares worth Tk 23.26 crore changing hands.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company and Meghna Petroleum were the next most popular stocks.

Tallu Spinning featured in the top ten gainers' chart, having advanced by 9.70 percent.

Modern Dyeing and Screen Printing was the biggest loser of the day, falling by 3.22 percent.

Chittagong's Selective Categories Index, CSEX, closed the day at 8,678 points, after gaining 246 points or 2.91 percent.

A total of 1.53 crore shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 62.70 crore changed hands at the port city bourse.

Gainers beat losers 173 to 10, with five securities remaining unchanged.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 28th June 2012

Stocks yesterday gained the highest gain in two months as investors went on a buying spree following a positive decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sponsor and directors who failed to buy back the minimum 2 percent shares in their companies by May 21 will no longer be permitted to sit on the boards, the SEC said yesterday.

The decision sent the investors into heavy buying, with the benchmark general index DGEN surging by 134.05 points and finishing the day at 4,400 points.

“Investors injected capital into their respected stocks after hearing the positive decision from the SEC meeting,” said LankaBangla Securities in its daily market analysis.

Turnover stood at Tk 162 crore, after rising 13.6 percent from the previous day.

A total of 0.60 lakh trades were executed, with 3.69 crore shares and mutual fund units changing hands at the Dhaka bourse. All the sectors closed at green; non-bank financial institutions gained 4.14 percent, followed by power 3.35 percent and banks 2.94 percent.

Telecommunications and pharmaceuticals also rose, by 2.27 percent and 2.91 percent respectively.

Of the 268 issues that traded on the DSE, 253 advanced, nine declined and six remained unchanged.

Grameenphone, which went up by 2.2 percent, was the most traded stock of the day with 4.9 lakh shares worth Tk 10.10 crore changing hands.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company and Square Pharmaceuticals were the next most popular stocks.

GBB Power featured in the top ten gainers chart, having advanced by 10 percent.

Shyampur Suger Mills was the biggest loser of the day, slumping by 6 percent.

The Selective Categories Index, CSEX, the indicator of Chittagong Stock Exchange closed the day at 8432 points, after gaining 232 points.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended the week in the red amid price volatility and street protests by the investors while a tense situation prevailed in the market over the legal battle on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s special power of imposing conditions on listed companies.

The market witnessed a downturn over the week as the investors were confused and took a 'wait-and-see' policy since a writ petition challenging the legality of Section 2CC of SEC Ordinance of 1969 was pending with the High Court till Thursday, said a stock broker.

Low participation of institutional investors quickened the downtrend, he added. Groups of retail investors staged demonstration in front of the DSE building throughout the week protesting continuous price falls. They even demanded resignation of Finance Minister AMA Muhith for terming the stock market as ‘evil’ market.

Meanwhile, the High Court on Thursday upheld the regulator’s special power by rejecting all the five writ petitions filed by 24 sponsors and directors of five listed firms challenging the legality of Section 2CC of SEC Ordinance, 1969.

Market stakeholders and experts hailed the HC verdict and viewed that the judgment would help restore investors’ confidence in the market.

During the week, the benchmark general index of the DSE---DGEN, the yardstick of the market, went down by 325 points or 6.94 percent to close at 4300.

The broader All Shares Price Index (DSI) plunged 269 points or 6.85 percent to 3,654 points while the DSE-20 Index comprising blue chips also declined 191 points or 5.39 percent to 3349.

The total turnover on the prime bourse stood at Tk 7.14 billion at the end of the week, down from Tk 7.57 billion in the previous week.

The average daily turnover also came down to Tk 1.42 billion in the week, 5.63 percent lower compared to Tk 1.51 billion in the previous week.

During the week, all the major sectors went down on the trading board with banks falling the most 8.34 percent followed by non-banking financial institutions 7.87 percent, fuel and power 6.23 percent, pharmaceuticals 4.33 percent and telecommunications 2.22 per cent.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company continued to top the weekly turnover chart with shares worth Tk 596.10 million.

The other turnover leaders of the week were--Lafarge Surma Cement, Grameenphone, LankaBangla Finance, Meghna Petroleum, Social Islami Bank Ltd (SIBL), Square Pharma, Beximco Limited, Jamuna Oil and Titas Gas.

Fifth ICB was the week's top gainer, posting a rise of 8.90 percent followed by Third ICB, Rekitt Benckiser, First Bangladesh Fixed Income Fund, AMCL (Pran), BATBC, National Tea, United Insurance, Bata Shoe and Stylecraft.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 24th June 2012

Finance minister AMA Muhith on Wednesday once again called country’s share market as a ‘wicked’ one, adding that the government would bring medicine to streamline it.

Muhith made the statement yesterday when journalists drew his attention to his Monday’s remark on the country’s stock market which drew huge flak.

While delivering his speech over the supplementary budget in the parliament on Monday, Muhith said about the stock market, “It is a wicked share market and I do not want to make any comment on it”.

His statement also sparked sharp reaction from the main bourse and small investors. The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DES) authorities criticised Muhith’s statement through organising a press conference.

“Not just a section, everybody who lacks enough liquidity but invest in the market are wicked, the finance minister told journalists yesterday after attending two meetings with the leaders of Ocean Going Ship Owner Association and Supper Market Shop Owner Association at the finance ministry conference auditorium at the secretariat. About DSE’s criticism, he said the DSE authorities had the right to criticise him.

In support his Monday’s statement, Muhith further said, “I am frustrated as the market did not bounce back according to my expectation and my frustration has led me to make such comments”.

He said, “We will see some basic differences from December”, after the demutualisation of the market is completed, he said.

Regarding fuel price hike, Muhith said, “The government will soon finalise a mechanism to fix the fuel prices in line with the international market rates”.

"The energy ministry is currently working while discussion with the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission is going on in this regard," he added.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 14th June 2012

The Dhaka Stock Exchange and small investors yesterday protested the finance minister's comment that the stockmarket is an 'evil market'.

“It's an evil market. I won't comment on it,” said Finance Minister AMA Muhith, on Monday in parliament, during the passage of the supplementary budget for the outgoing fiscal year.

But Muhith did not explain why it is an evil market.

The minister made the comment three days after he proposed the budget for fiscal 2012-13.

Reacting to Muhith's remark, DSE President Rakibur Rahman said: “It seems that the honorable finance minister has grown impatient."

It remains to be seen whether the incentives announced by Muhith for the stockmarket are being implemented, Rahman said.

The stockmarket is a sensitive market, so any negative comment will influence the market negatively, Rahman said.

During his speech, Muhith had also mentioned that there would be no great impact on the economy if he did not give much attention to the stockmarket.

Referring to the observation, the DSE chief commented, "Economic development will never be possible if the stockmarket is ignored."

The DSE chief urged the minister to consider the stockmarket as an alternative source of funds to develop infrastructure and undertake development projects.

Speaking on investments made by banks in the stockmarket, Rahman said the investments are below 2 percent of the banks' liabilities.

Presently, commercial banks are allowed to invest 10 percent of their liabilities, according to Bangladesh Bank directive.

Ahmed Rashid, senior vice-president of DSE, also protested Muhith's comment that he said might transmit bad signals to the economy.

Small investors, under the banner of Bangladesh Share Investors' Association (BSIA), also protested the minister's remark.

They staged a demonstration in front of DSE and shouted slogans against Muhith.

Mizanur Rashid Chowdhury, president of BSIA, said: “The minister's comment has upset us, as he is our guardian.”

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 13th June 2012