Dhaka stocks bounced back on Wednesday after five straight sessions in the red as Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on the day finally allowed all the mutual funds to issue stock dividends for its unit holders as re-investment, which boosted the investors’ confidence.
The benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished the day at 4,076.50 points, adding 3.73 per cent or 146.93 points.
The market started the day on a positive note as the DSEX gained near about 40 points in the first five minutes of trading, but then lost more than 45 points in the next 20 minutes.
However, after 30 minutes of trading, the market started to increase sharply when the news regarding the mutual funds broke out.
The DSEX had lost 366.26 points in the previous five trading sessions after gaining 89.23 points in the earlier two.
Market operators said that the BSEC approval allowing mutual funds to issue stock dividends to the unit holders as re-investment made investors active on the trading floor, which was the main reason behind the market’s revival.
After the last five days’ fall, buying was natural and the fact that many of the investors went for buying was another reason behind the sharp rise in shares prices.
The market started to plunge on July 17 following media reports about government moves to off-load more shares of the listed state-owned entities.
DGEN, the benchmark old key index of the bourse, added 4.36 per cent, or 184.43 points, on the day to close at 4,408.79 points.
The DGEN had lost 550.84 points in the last five trading sessions after gaining 171.75 points in the earlier two.
DS30, the blue chip index of the bourse, gained 5.30 per cent, or 76.20 points to finish at 1,511.26 points.
The turnover of the bourse increased to Tk 464.07 crore from that of the previous session’s Tk 438.90 crore.
Among the 283 shares and mutual funds traded on the day, 252 advanced, 24 declined and 7 remained unchanged.
‘Market made strong comeback from 4,200 points psychological support level and broke last five session’s waning tone. As index lost 550.84 points in last five sessions, a natural re-bounce took place,’ IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.
‘News on amendment of mutual funds regulations further dragged up market sentiment positively. As a result, all the mutual funds except two were in the positive territory,’ it also said.
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company led the turnover chart on the day as its shares worth Tk 33.19 crore changed hands while Padma Oil, Titas Gas, Meghna Petroleum, Unique Hotel and Resorts, Active Fine Chemicals, Grameenphone, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Jamuna Oil and AIMS First Mutual Fund followed the chart.
-With New Age input
