Stocks bounce back but worries remain

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Dhaka stocks bounced back yesterday thanks to the announcement of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) to provide support to the market.

On Monday, ICB declared that it would start buying shares with Tk 200 crore it has at present and with another Tk 800 crore that it will get from four state-run banks through issuing bonds.

Some investors stopped selling shares yesterday amid a buying spree, which jacked up the premier bourse’s benchmark index by 2.34 percent or 110.37 points.

Despite the gain in the index, the general investors took part in an agitation programme in front of Dhaka Stock Exchange’s building yesterday, as they believe the rise would not persist.

The protesters also demanded resignation of some top officials of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).

One agitator, Siddiqur Rahman, said the BSEC has failed to boost investors’ confidence by allowing funds to be raised by companies which were not performing well. 

“Another name of water is life but dirty water is harmful for people. Similarly, many companies are needed in the market but not the ones performing poorly,” he said.

The stock market regulator failed to curb manipulation in the market, so small investors lost their money, he added.

Another investor, Mizanur Rahman, said the stock market may have bounced back but the investment firms have acknowledged that they do not have adequate funds to support the ailing market.

“So, we are still worried about the market,” he said.

The present commission is working for the sake of a vested group for which it extended the tenure of closed-end mutual funds to 10 years, alleged Rahman, adding, “I incurred a huge loss for this decision.”

Rahman had invested in those mutual funds and was expecting to withdraw handsome profits through their liquidation on reaching maturity within one or two years.

However, the BSEC on September 16 last year gave the go-ahead to the extension of another 10 years for such funds upon demands of some asset management companies and handed over the right to the asset managers.

Meanwhile, the DSE and DSE Brokers’ Association yesterday sat with 30 top brokers on the DSE premises to discuss the recent market fall.

However, the turnover remained low due to the cautious stance of investors. It hit Tk 328.05 crore, up 9 percent from the previous day.

According to the DSE data, Square Pharmaceuticals dominated the turnover chart yesterday followed by National Tubes, Beacon Pharmaceuticals, Summit Power and Standard Ceramic.

Safko Spinning topped the gainers’ list with a 10 percent gain while Shyampur Sugar was the top loser shedding 6 percent.

Among the major sectors, telecom rose 4.9 percent, energy 3 percent and banking 1.1 percent.

Chittagong stocks also rose with the bourse’s benchmark index, the CSCX, increasing 149.33 points, or 1.7 percent, to finish the day at 8,899.55.

Gainers beat losers as 201 advanced, 24 declined while 13 finished unchanged on port city bourse.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net

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