DSE key index, turnover hit new highs
The stockmarket regulator suspended trading of Pharma Aids shares from today, as the stock price of the company skyrocketed by almost 164 percent yesterday after a suspicious dividend declaration.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also formed a two-member probe committee to investigate into the abnormal hike.
The market watchdog asked the committee, headed by SEC Director Md Hasan Mahmud, to submit the probe report within the next seven days, said SEC Executive Director Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan.
Another member of the probe committee is Mohammad Rakibur Rahman, assistant director of the SEC.
A suspicious dividend declaration by the board of directors of the pharmaceuticals and chemicals company has caused the jump in its share prices.
The suspicion arose as the company on Thursday announced 30 percent cash and 500 percent stock (five bonus shares against one existing share) dividends for the year that ended on June 30, 2010.
According to the DSE, the company has been giving only cash dividends since 2004, but never announced bonus or stock dividend since then.
As there was no price limit on the trading of Pharma Aids shares yesterday following the corporate declaration, price of each share skyrocketed by Tk 11,616, before closing at Tk 18,580.
Meanwhile, the key index and turnover on the premier bourse set another record yesterday, as the market continued the bull run for the eighth consecutive session.
The benchmark DSE General Index hit a record at 7,957 points, rising by 20 points, or 0.25 percent.
The single-day turnover also reached a new high of Tk 3,208 crore, crossing the Tk 3,000 crore mark for the first time. The highest was Tk 2,946 crore on Thursday.
The market moved on the news of third quarter results, with the banking sector leading the way, according to an analysis by Brac-EPL, an investment firm.
Losers, however, beat gainers 160 to 79, with three securities remaining unchanged on the DSE, which traded more than 13.99 crore shares and mutual fund units.
