FE Report

The turnover is limping on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) as the participation of the institutional investors reduced drastically in recent months, officials said.

At the end of Sunday's trading session, the turnover value went down by 11.42 per cent to close at Tk 1.45 billion, whereas the benchmark DSE general index posted a minimum gain of 2.86 points or 0.06 per cent to close at 4163 points.

"Among the total turnover value the institutional participation will be around 10 per cent. A portion of retailers are trying to average their investment sitting in the bottom line. The other retailers are selling their securities in tandem with their necessity," a DSE source said.

Another DSE observation found that in recent months the institutional participation has reduced than the values observed in 2007 when the turnover hovered between the range of Tk 233 million to Tk 3.39 billion.

However, the experts said the contractionary monetary policy of the central bank is responsible for the scarcity of the institutional funds required to boost the turnover of the bourses.

"The interest rates are increasing due to contractionary monetary policy. Beyond the core business, the banks are not in a position to support the stock market," said Akter Hossain Sannamat, the managing director of the Union Capital.

He said the government and the securities regulator should consider the issue of turnover very seriously for the sake of markets and the investors.

The DSE moved recently to hold a joint meeting with the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) and the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) to devise ways to stabilise the market through sufficient fund supports.

The joint meeting was scheduled to be held at the office BSEC on December 20, 2012. But the meeting was ultimately postponed without speaking about the reasons.

On Sunday, among 267 traded issues, 103 advanced, 115 declined and the remaining 49 remained unchanged on the DSE.

On the other hand, the all shares price index on the port city bourse--Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE)--rose 6.16 points to close at 12734.30 points.

Among 168 traded issues on CSE, 61 advanced, 88 declined and 19 remained unchanged.

The DSE turnover leaders were Beximco, Unique Hotels, Pubali Bank, United Airways, Jamuna Oil, Meghna Petroleum, RN Spinning, Summit Power, National Bank and Beximco Pharma.

The list of top ten gainers included, Bangladesh Industrial Finance, EBL NRB Mutual Fund, First BSRS Mutual Fund, FAS Finance and Investment, First Lease International, Meghna Petroleum, BD Finance, Beximco, National Housing and Jamuna Oil.

On the other hand, the top ten losers were Rahim Textiles, First Bangladesh Income Fund, Apex Spinning, LR Global Mutual Fund one, Orion Infusion, Gemini Sea Food, Delta Life Insurance, 8th ICB Mutual Fund, Dacca Dyeing and Manufacturing and First Prime Finance Mutual Fund.