Dhaka stocks fell flat on Wednesday but most of the shares prices went up as the regulator on the day before had allowed converting a close-ended mutual fund into an open-ended one, delighting the investors. The benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange finished at 4,076.96 points, adding 0.08 per cent or 3.32 points. DS30, the blue-chip index of the DSE, lost 0.15 per cent, or 2.37 points, to finish at 1,515.51 points.
The turnover of the bourse increased to Tk 546.53 crore from the previous trading session’s Tk 516.14 crore.
Among the 293 shares and mutual funds traded on the day, 155 advanced, 114 declined and 24 remained unchanged.
Market operators said that the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision on Tuesday to allow the ICB AMCL First Mutual Fund to convert into an open-ended mutual fund made the investors delighted.
The conversion of mutual funds into open-ended ones from close-ended ones will save the market from sell-pressure as they won’t have to pay back Net Asset Value per unit in cash to its unit holders, they said.
The call from the US and the EU delegations to the political parties to hold a dialogue to resolve the disputes also eased the tension among the investors regarding the political situation, said the operators.
If the disputes regarding the next polls-time government get resolved, it will have a positive impact on the investors’ mind, they said.
‘As investors continued to stay watchful over ongoing developments, session repeated the trend of last few sessions, starting with a hype but eventually slowing down. Having no surprises in apparent eased up political front, market sentiment remained largely unchanged,’ IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.
-With New Age input