DSE boss for raising Padma Bridge funds from share market

Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) President Rakibur Rahman has suggested the government to form a company to raise funds from the capital market for the construction of Padma Bridge.

Mr Rahman made the suggestion while speaking at a function organised ahead of a three-day Bangladesh Capital Market Fair 2012 here Saturday. The fair began Sunday.

The fair is being organised to woo the UK-based non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) for more investment in Bangladesh's capital market.

"The government should hand over 50 per cent share to the NRBs for building the much-hyped Padma Bridge," he said.

"If 50 per cent share is given to the NRBs, it will satisfy them in two ways; firstly, they will invest out of patriotism and secondly, they will know that they are investing on a profitable project," he added.

The DSE chief observed that the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lent money on several conditions and said, "We will not remain dependent on others if the share is given to the NRBs."

Mr Rahman also believes it will not be quite handy if government issues bonds for the NRBs instead. "Bonds will not excite the NRBs and they will never buy those bonds on five per cent interests," he added.

Around 200,000 expatriates are currently having beneficiary owner (BO) accounts, he said and felt it is necessary to increase 10 per cent quota for them on opening new BO accounts.

A delegation of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) led by Mr Rahman is currently visiting London to take part in the fair. The organiser of the fair, London-based CurryLife Events, stated 10 Bangladeshi brokerage houses are taking part in the fair.

Investment experts from these houses are giving advices to the expatriates to invest in Bangladesh and help open BO accounts online.

A similar fair was organised in London in March last year. 

SEC enquiries end in warning letters

Most of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigations of brokerage houses have this year ended without any formal enforcement action being taken, the commission’s enforcement data in the first five months of the current year shows.
From January to May, the SEC launched 17 enquiries into 15 brokerage houses for allegedly breaching several stock market related laws -- including in particular those that make it an offence to create an artificial market environment resulting in an increase or decrease in share prices.
During this period, out of the nine whose investigations were completed, five ended in issuing of warning letters with only four resulting in the imposition of a penalty.
Moreover, the total fines imposed on the four firms was reduced by 66 per cent following appeals by the brokerage houses
This compares with 2011, when the SEC conducted 55 enquiries against brokerage firms penalising 48 of them and only issuing seven warning letters.
‘This is one area where we should practise zero tolerance, but unfortunately this is not the case,’ a senior SEC official told New Age when asked about the issue.
He said the laws for tackling such market manipulations were sufficient but their enforcement was conditional because of the market environment.
He argued that while tough enforcement may have some very short-term negative effect on the market, it would quickly bear fruit.
‘If we go harsh on them [brokers and merchant banks] the market may suffer for a while, but it will establish a position which will help the market in the long run,’ he said.
‘But unfortunately no one wants to take that decision, especially when the market is going through a depression,’ he said.
He also stressed the importance of taking firm action against public listed companies regarding the quality of their accounts. 
Since January 2012, the SEC started to publish on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website information about the any inquiry committees that it had established --  an initiative appreciated by the general investors and other stakeholders as it appeared to reflect a hard stand by SEC against market misdeeds.
However, the website did not provide information on the results of the investigations.
The SEC in January announced the formation of enquiry committees into alleged offences committed by Al-Arafa Islmai Bank, NCC Bank, Dhaka Bank, PFI Securities, Alliance Securities and Management and IIDFC Ltd.
All the brokerage firms were accused of non-compliance of Section 1, 2 and 7 of the second schedule of Securities and Exchange Commission (Stock Broker and Stock Dealer) Rule 2000 which deals with honesty and responsibility to the clients and creating artificial market environment.
The IIDFC was initially fined Tk 5 lakh, but later the SEC waived the penalty and issued a warning to the brokerage firm.
The Dhaka Bank Limited (Stock Broker) was fined Tk 20 lakh which was reduced to Tk 7 lakh following a request by the bank and Al Arafa Islami Bank Limited (Stock Broker) was also fined Tk 25 lakh which was reduced to Tk 10 lakh.
NCC Bank’s penalty was reduced to Tk 7 lakh from the imposed Tk 20 lakh and PFI Securities’ fine was reduced to Tk 7 lakh from Tk 25 lakh.
In February, SEC formed enquiry committees against six brokerage firms-- Sinha Securities, Rapid Securities, Royal Securities, LankaBangla Securities, Hac Securities and Fareast Securities.
Out of these, Sinha Securities, Rapid Securities and Royal Securities received only a warning letter. The investigation against the other brokerage firms are still pending.
In March, the SEC formed an enquiry committee into the conduct of Remons Investment & Securities Limited and Wifang Securities; in April into that of Hac Securities; and in May, two enquiry committees were formed against PHP Securities and LankaBangla Securities.
None of these investigations has yet been completed.
In May, the SEC issued a warning letter to City Brokerage Ltd for breaching securities laws

Small investors get 50pc interest waiver

Small investors financially affected by the recent stockmarket crash will receive a waiver of 50 percent on the interest of marginal loans, the finance minister said Sunday.
However, the interest to be waived must be accrued within the calendar year of 2011 or the financial year 2011-12.
"The order will come into effect from Monday," Finance Minister AMA Muhith revealed the information to reporters emerging from a meeting at his secretariat office.
Muhith held the meeting with different market stakeholders including Securities and Exchange Commission, representatives of Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Association of Banks and Association of Bankers Bangladesh, the two stock exchanges, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh and other commercial banks.
The adversely affected investors will have the scope to pay the remaining interest payment through quarterly installments in three years.
In addition, the merchant banks will have to allow the loss-suffering shareholders to conduct fresh transactions in their accounts.
The government also allotted a quota of 20 percent of all initial public offerings (IPOs) – government and private – to be issued in 2012 and 2013 to the investors.
Lenders including merchant banks and brokerage houses will bear the brunt of the losses incurred by the interest waiver, the finance minister said, adding that Bangladesh Bank will later decide appropriate compensation for the affected investors.
On February 22, a government committee led by Md Fayekuzzaman, managing director of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, made various recommendations including waiver of interests.
The committee found that 15.26 lakh BO accounts were adversely affected and such accounts had outstanding interest payment of up to Tk 499 crore.
The government in October last year announced a stimulus package for stockmarket investors to restore stability in the market.
As part of the package, the government formed a seven-member special scheme committee on November 27 to identify small investors who incurred losses, and the amount they lost.

DSE sees another massive plunge

Dhaka stocks witnessed sharp fall Sunday, as all three indices plunged more than two per cent, sparking protest again by the angry investors in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange(DSE) building.

The benchmark General Index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DGEN, shed 166.08 points or 2.78 per cent to close at 5,800.42.

The broader All Shares Price Index (DSI) also went down by 138.71 points or 2.77 per cent to close at 4,852.79. The DSE-20 Index comprising blue-chip shares plunged 81.60 points or 1.99 per cent to close at 4,006.84.

Market insiders said the investors are suffering from lack of confidence following the ongoing liquidity crunch in the market and are not taking active part in the trading.

"Fall of the indices continued to reflect the lack of confidence among the market participants," said a stock broker.

"Panic gripped the investors who sold the shares in speculation of further index fall. Investors were in sheer indecision as most of the proposals recently taken to spur the market activities are yet to be implemented," said LankaBangla Securities in its daily market commentary. In the wake of free fall of share prices, the aggrieved investors came out of different brokerage houses at about 1:30pm and staged demonstration and formed a human chain in front of the DSE protesting the share price fall.

The angry investors under the banner of 'Bangladesh Share Market Investors Unity Council' again demanded immediate resignation of Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman.

Traffic movement was suspended for about two hours as the police barred vehicles from using the street from the Shapla Chattar to the Ittefaq intersection.

They also sought immediate intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to bring back normalcy and stablise the market.

They further vowed to continue their programme until the stability is restored in the capital market.

They also held a meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) where they placed a 15 points chanter of demands.

The SEC held several meetings with the stakeholders with a view to stablising the market.

It also announced last week that the central bank had agreed to give merchant banks more time to adjust their single-borrower exposures in a bid to help the drooping capital market. 

Besides, the SEC agreed in principle to fix a minimum limit for sponsors to hold a certain percentage of shares outstanding. 

The SEC also formally announced its decision Saturday to keep face value of each shares or unit at Tk 10 effective from December 4.

"But these attempts apparently failed to restore confidence among investors," said a market insider.

Even after several measures, retail investors are not considering the market suitable for investment, he added.

'I don't know whether the market will be stabilised or not but I have lost major portion of my investment,' said an investor. 

Out of 259 issues traded, only 14 advanced, 242 declined and three remained unchanged.

However, total transaction amounted to Tk 3.96 billion which was 34.23 per cent higher than previous day's Tk 2.95 billion.

A total of 44.41 million shares changed hands on the day against 38.54 million in the previous session. The trade deals also increased to 92,747 against Thursday's 71,888.

Total market capitalisation of the DSE declined to Tk 2,787.79 billion against Tk 2,853.49 billion in the previous session.

All the sectors ended in red zone as selling pressure was witnessed all across the board with financial sector retraced more compared to the index.

Among the major sectors---banks lost 3.21 per cent, while NBFIs 3.29 per cent, telecommunications 3.30 per cent, pharma sector 1.03 per cent and fuel and power 2.48 per cent.

Delta Brac Housing gained 2.20 per cent and topped the turnover chart with share worth Tk 141.55 million changed hands following its declaration of 100 per cent stock dividend.

The other turnover leaders were Beximco Pharma, Titas Gas, Beximco Limited, National Bank, CMC Kamal, Lafarge Surma Cement, GP, Malek Spinning and ONE Bank.

AIBL First Mutual Fund was the day's top gainer posting a rise of 5.95 per cent.

It was followed by Pharma Aids, BD Autocars, Renwick Jajneswar & Co (Bd), Monno Stafflers, Delta Brac Housing, Desh Garment, ACI, Southeast Bank First Mutual Fund and BATBC.

The day's worst losers included MBL First Mutual Fund, Salvo Chemicals, Eastern Lubricants, Federal Insurance, Deshbandhu Sugar Mills, ICB Third NRB Mutual Fund, Janata Insurance and Sandhani Insurance.
Source: FE 

Angry investors take to streets again

Angry investors took to the streets in rowdy demonstrations again on Sunday protesting the free fall of share prices as the Dhaka stocks plunged by 166.08 points on the first working day of the week.

The benchmark General Index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DGEN, plunged by 2.78 per cent to peg at 5,800.42 points.

"Uncertainty and instability returned at the market as investors rushed to sell out shares in order to leave the capital market which contributed the free fall," said a stock broker.

Many investors were also very indecisive, as most of the proposals taken recently to spur the market are yet to be implemented, he said. 

Market insiders said the investors are suffering from lack of confidence following the ongoing liquidity crisis in the market due to lower participation of investors.

Out of 10 trading sessions since it re-opened after the Eid vacation, the DSE suffered losses in seven sessions and the key index of the DSE shed more than 331 points.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held several meetings with the stakeholders since the latest downtrend had begun to stablise the market.

"But these attempts apparently failed to bring back confidence among investors," said a market insider.

The market might lead to another crash if the institutional investors continued to watch from the sidelines, he said.

Out of 259 issues traded, only 14 advanced, 242 declined and three remained unchanged.

However, total transaction increased to Tk 3.96 billion in value terms which was 34.23 per cent higher than previous day's Tk 2.95 billion.

Meanwhile, in the wake of free fall of share prices, the aggrieved investors came out from the different brokerage houses at about 1.30pm and staged demonstration and formed a human chain in front of the DSE protesting the massive fall of share prices.

Traffic movement was suspended nearly for two hours as police barred vehicles from taking the street from the Shapla Chattar to the Ittefaq intersection.

The angry investors under the banner of 'Bangladesh Share Market Investors Unity Council' shouted slogans repeating their demand---immediate resignation of the finance minister AMA Muhith and the Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman.

They also said that fall of share prices being taken place for ten months made many investors compel to led abnormal life as many of them lost most of their investments.

They also sought immediate intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to bring back normalcy and stablise the market. They vowed to continue their programme until the stability is restored in the capital market.
Source: FE 

Analysts blame BB for share slide

Merchant bankers and capital market analysts have blamed the central bank for the continuous fall in share prices.

They think that the market will 'improve' if the Bangladesh Bank quickly intervenes.

Small investors staged a human-chain protest in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) premises against a sharp slide in the general index, which blossomed into a full-blown demonstration, halting traffic in the nearby streets on Sunday.

They registered their protest with the human-chain on the footpath in the Motijheel commercial district around 12:40pm on Sunday, the first trading day of the week.

They then took to the street in front of the DSE after around two hours when the benchmark index shed 154.09 points or 2.58 percent to 5812.41 around 2:40pm.

The index eventually lost 166.08 points or 2.78 percent to close at 5800.42 points.

Of the 259 traded issues, losers heavily outnumbered gainers 242 to 14 while three remained unchanged. The turnover stood at Tk 3.96 billion.

Asked about the reason of the fall, Bangladesh Merchant Bankers' Association president Mohammad A Hafiz told bdnews24.com that he felt the need for positive move from the Bangladesh Bank.

He termed liquidity crisis as the main problem of the market and said, "The deadline to adjust single-party exposure will soon have to be extended to 2014. The market will be better once it is done."

Hafiz said the merchant banks could not offer margin loans more than 1:0.5 ratio to the investors due to the liquidity crisis.

"Flow of loans will increase once the liquidity crisis is overcome," he added.

Earlier, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had ordered the merchant banks to give margin loans in 1:2 ratio.

CEO Waliar Rahman of Sonali Investment, a subsidiary of Sonali Bank, said, "Most of the investors have been hooked to the market after buying shares at a high price. New money will have to be injected into the market to raise the market again."

"It can be done in two ways — either by bringing in new investors or increasing the investors' ability to buy shares by raising size of margin loans."

He said he thought the market would turn around soon.

Dhaka University economics teacher Abu Ahmed said, "SEC has limited authority as it works in a limited place. So, the finance ministry and the Bangladesh Bank should take steps in this regard."

"The government has imposed tax on the mutual funds. It impacted the market, too," he added.

In the 10 trading days since it re-opened after the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, the DSE has suffered fall in the key index in seven days.

The SEC held several meetings with the stakeholders since the latest downtrend had begun.

Merchant banks have been assured that they would get more time to adjust single-party exposure as Bangladesh Bank movedto stabilise the sagging capital market.

SEC on Thursday suspended sectoral and individual investment ceiling for mutual funds until Dec 31, 2011 in order to resolve liquidity crisis in the market.

According to existing rules, a mutual fund cannot invest more than 10 percent of its fund in a single company and not more than 25 percent in a single sector.

The stock market regulator on Saturday formally announced its decision to keep face value for each share at Tk 10 effective from Dec 4.

But the steps have apparently failed to restore confidence in the market.


দরপতনে কেন্দ্রীয় ব্যাংককে দুষছেন বিশেষজ্ঞরা:

পুঁজিবাজারে অব্যাহত দরপতনের জন্য কেন্দ্রীয় ব্যাংকের ওপরই 'দায়' চাপাচ্ছেন মার্চেন্ট ব্যাংকার ও বিশ্লেষকরা।

তারল্য বাড়াতে কেন্দ্রীয় ব্যাংক দ্রত সিদ্ধান্ত নিলে 'বাজার ভালো হয়ে' যাবে বলেও মনে করছেন তারা।

রোববার সপ্তাহের প্রথম দিন দেশের প্রধান পুঁজিবাজার ঢাকা স্টক এক্সচেঞ্জে (ডিএসই) সাধারণ মূল্যসূচক ১৬৬ পয়েন্ট কমে দাঁড়ায় ৫৮০০ পয়েন্টে। চট্টগ্রাম স্টক এক্সচেঞ্জে (সিএসই) বাছাই সূচক (সিএসসিএক্স) ২৯২ পয়েন্ট কমে দাঁড়ায় ১০ হাজার ৫২৮ পয়েন্টে। দুই স্টক এক্সচেঞ্জেই কমেছে অধিকাংশ শেয়ারের দাম।

দরপতনের কারণ সম্পর্কে জানতে চাওয়া হলে বাংলাদেশ মার্চেন্ট ব্যাংকার্স অ্যাসোসিয়েশনের সভাপতি মোহাম্মদ এ হাফিজ রোববার বিডিনিউজ টায়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে বলেন, "এ মুহূর্তে বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংকের ইতিবাচক পদক্ষেপ খুবই জরুরি।"

তারল্য সংকটকে বাজারের প্রধান সমস্যা হিসেবে চিহ্নিত করে তিনি বলেন, "যত দ্রুত সম্ভব ব্যাংকগুলোর একক গ্রাহক ঋণসীমা সমন্বয়ের সময় ২০১৪ সাল পর্যন্ত বৃদ্ধি করতে হবে। এটা করলেই বাজার ভালো হয়ে যাবে।"

মোহাম্মদ এ হাফিজ বলেন, তারল্য সংকটের কারণে মার্চেন্ট ব্যাংকগুলো বিনিয়োগকারীদের ১ অনুপাত দশমিক ৫০ (এক টাকার বিপরীতে ৫০ পয়সা) হারের বেশি ঋণ দিতে পারছে না। তারল্য সংকট কেটে গেলে ঋণ প্রবাহও বেড়ে যাবে।

১ অনুপাত ২ হারে (এক টাকার বিপরীতে ২ টাকা) মার্জিন ঋণ দেওয়ার বিষয়ে এসইসির নির্দেশনা রয়েছে।

সোনালী ব্যাংকের সাবসিডিয়ারি প্রতিষ্ঠান সোনালী ইনভেস্টমেন্টের প্রধান নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা ওয়ালিয়ার রহমান বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে বলেন, "উচ্চ মূল্যে শেয়ার কিনে অধিকাংশ বিনিয়োগকারীই এখন আটকে রয়েছেন। তাই বাজারকে এখন তুলতে হলে নতুন অর্থ প্রবেশ করাতে হবে।"

"এটা দুভাবে করা যায়। হয় নতুন বিনিয়োগকারীদের বাজারে প্রবেশ করাতে হবে অথবা মার্জিন ঋণ বাড়িয়ে দিয়ে লোকসানে থাকা বিনিয়োগকারীদের ক্রয়মক্ষতা বাড়াতে হবে।"

তবে বাজার শিগগিরই ঘুরে দাঁড়াবে বলে মনে করেন ওয়ালিয়ার রহমান।

গত অগাস্ট মাসের মধ্যে সর্বোচ্চ ১৫ শতাংশ ঋণ সমন্বয়ের সময়সীমা বেঁধে দিয়েছিল কেন্দ্রীয় ব্যাংক। কিন্তু পুঁজিবাজারে তারল্য সংকট দেখা দেওয়ায় গত ২৬ মে এ সময়সীমা চার মাস বাড়িয়ে ৩১ ডিসেম্বর পর্যন্ত করা হয়।

মঙ্গলবার সিকিউরিটিজ এন্ড এক্সচেঞ্জ কমিশনের (এসইসি) সঙ্গে মার্চেন্ট ব্যাংকার্স অ্যাসোসিয়েশনের নেতারা দাবি জানান, বাজারের তারল্য সংকট কাটাতে এ সময়সীমা ২০১৪ সাল পর্যন্ত বাড়াতে হবে।

এ সময়সীমা বাড়ানো হবে বলে বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংকের নির্বাহী পরিচালক এস কে সুর চৌধুরী আশ্বাস দিয়েছেন। তবে কবে এবং কতদিন পর্যন্ত বাড়ানো হবে সে বিষয়ে তিনি কিছু বলেননি।

চলতি অর্থবছরের বাজেটে কালো টাকা সাদা করার সুযোগ দেওয়ায় বাজারে ইতিবাচক প্রভাব পড়তে শুরু করে। কিন্তু একমাস ভালো থাকার পর গত ২৫ জুলাই থেকে প্রায় দুমাস ধরে দেশের দুই পুঁজিবাজারে নিুমুখী ধারা অব্যাহত রয়েছে।

ডিএসইতে গত ২৫ জুলাই থেকে ১৮ সেপ্টেম্বর পর্যন্ত লেনদেন হয়েছে ৩৩ কার্যদিবস। এর মধ্যে ২৫ কার্যদিবসেই সূচকের পতন হয়েছে। বেড়েছে মাত্র ৮ কার্যদিবস। এ সময়ে ডিএসই সাধারণ মূল্যসূচক ৭৬১০ পয়েন্ট থেকে কমে দাঁড়িয়েছে ৫৮০০ পয়েন্টে।

এদিকে ঈদের ছুটির পর থেকেই বাজার স্বাভাবিক করার জন্য বিভিন্ন অংশীদারদের সঙ্গে বৈঠক করে বেশ কিছু পদক্ষেপ নিয়েছে সংস্থাটি। একক গ্রাহক ঋণসীমা সমন্বয়ের সময় ডিসেম্বর থেকে আরও বাড়ানো হবে বলে আশ্বাস দেওয়া হয়েছে। লেনদেন নিষ্পত্তির সময় একদিন কমানোর বিষয়টি এসইসি বিবেচনা করছে।

মিউচুয়াল ফান্ডগুলোর ক্ষেত্রে একক শেয়ার ও খাতভিত্তিক শেয়ারে বিনিয়োগের নির্দিষ্ট সীমাও তুলে দেওয়া হয়েছে।
এছাড়া ১ ডিসেম্বরের মধ্যে সব প্রতিষ্ঠান ও মিউচুয়াল ফান্ডগুলোর শেয়ারের অভিহিত মূল্য ১০ টাকা করার বিষয়েও আদেশ জারি করেছে এসইসি।

কিন্তু এরপরও বাজার স্বাভাবিক হচ্ছে না কেন- জানতে চাওয়া হলে ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের অর্থনীতির অধ্যাপক আবু আহমেদ বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে বলেন, "এসইসি একটি নির্দিষ্ট সীমার মধ্যে কাজ করায় তাদের হাতে ক্ষমতা কম। এক্ষেত্রে অর্থ মন্ত্রণালয় ও বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংককে উদ্যোগ নিতে হবে।"

তিনি বলেন, "বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক সুদের হার (কি রেইট) বাড়িয়েছে। সিআরআর এসএলআর বাড়ানো হয়েছে। আর এর ফলে তারল্য সংকট বেড়ে গেছে।"

মুদ্রা নীতিতে পরিবর্তন আনতে হবে মন্তব্য করে আবু আহমেদ বলেন, "মিউচুয়াল ফান্ডগুলোর ওপর কর আরোপ করেছে সরকার। এর প্রভাবও বাজারে পড়ছে।"

Source:Bdnews24

Protest rocks DSE street as index dips

Small investors staged a human-chain protest in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) premises against a sharp slide in the general index, which blossomed into a full-blown demonstration, halting traffic in the nearby streets on Sunday.

They registered their protest with the human-chain on the footpath in the Motijheel commercial district around 12:40pm on Sunday, the first trading day of the week. Then they took to the street in front of the DSE after around two hours when the benchmark index shed 154.09 points or 2.58 percent to 5812.41 around 2:40pm.

The index eventually lost 166.08 points or 2.78 percent to close at 5800.42 points.

Of the 259 traded issues, losers heavily outnumbered gainers 242 to 14 while three remained unchanged. The turnover stood at Tk 3.96 billion.

Police barred vehicles from taking the street from the Shapla Chattar to the Ittefaq intersection where the demonstrators were shouting slogans repeating their demand for resignation of the Bangladesh Bank governor and the finance minister for their 'failure' to stabilise the market.

The situation became normal when the investors, who had been demonstrating under the banner of the Capital Market Investors Council, had left the street after around half an hour.

Leaders of the organisation also held a meeting with the officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Council president Mizanur Rashid Chowdhury said, "We informed SEC about our 15-point demand. They assured us that they would consider the demands."

In the 10 trading days since it re-opened after the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, the DSE has suffered fall in the key index in seven days.

The SEC held several meetings with the stakeholders since the latest downtrend had begun.

Merchant banks have been assured that they would get more time to adjust single-party exposure as Bangladesh Bank movedto stabilise the sagging capital market.

SEC on Thursday suspended sectoral and individual investment ceiling for mutual funds until Dec 31, 2011 in order to resolve liquidity crisis in the market.

According to existing rules, a mutual fund cannot invest more than 10 percent of its fund in a single company and not more than 25 percent in a single sector.

The stock market regulator on Saturday formally announced its decision to keep face value for each share at Tk 10 effective from Dec 4.

But the steps have apparently failed to restore confidence in the market.

Asked why the market did not turn around, first vice-president of the DSE Ahsanul Islam said, "We all are taking steps. But the market will behave in ts own way."

"The investment ceiling on mutual funds has been suspended. We do not understand what they are doing. We do not understand either what is being done with the Bangladesh Fund, too," he added.

He also said that the investors' tendency to sell off shares when the market goes a bit upward to adjust margin loans they had taken might have caused the downtrend.




দরপতন: ডিএসইর সামনে বিক্ষোভ:
পুঁজিবাজারে অব্যাহত দরপতনে রাস্তায় নেমেছে বিনিয়োগকারীরা। পরিস্থিতি সামাল দিতে মতিঝিলের শাপলা চত্বর থেকে ইত্তেফাক ভবন পর্যন্ত সড়কে যান চলাচল বন্ধ করে দিয়েছে পুলিশ।

রোববার লেনদেন শুরুর পর গত কয়েকদিনের মতোই সূচক পড়তে থাকে দেশের প্রধান পুঁজিবাজার ঢাকা স্টক এক্সচেঞ্জে (ডিএসই)।

এরপর দুপুর পৌনে ১টার দিকে ব্যক্তি শ্রেণীর বিনিয়োগকারীরা ডিএসই ভবনের সামনে মানববন্ধন করে। দেড়টার দিকে বিভিন্ন দাবি-দাওয়া নিয়ে নিয়ন্ত্রক সংস্থা সিকিউরিটিজ অ্যান্ড এক্সচেঞ্জ কমিশনের (এসইসি) সঙ্গে বৈঠকে বসে বিনিয়োগকারীদের প্রতিনিধিরা।

দুপুর ২টায় ডিএসই সাধারণ মূল্যসূচক একশর বেশি পয়েন্ট কমে গেলে বিনিয়োগকারীরা রাস্তায় নেমে বিক্ষোভ দেখাতে শুরু করে। তারা অর্থমন্ত্রী ও বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংকের গভর্নরের পদত্যাগ চেয়ে শ্লোগান দেয়।

এরপর আড়াইটার দিকে শাপলা চত্বর থেকে ইত্তেফাক মোড় পর্যন্ত যান চলাচল বন্ধ করে দেয় পুলিশ।

বাজারের নিুমুখী ধারার কারণে গত সপ্তাহেও বিনিয়োগকারীর রাস্তা অবরোধ করে, টায়ার পুড়িয়ে বিক্ষোভ দেখায়।

রোববার ডিএসইতে লেনদেন শুরুর পর সাড়ে তিন ঘণ্টায় সাধারণ মূল্যসূচক ১৫৫ পয়েন্ট কমে যায়। অধিকাংশ শেয়ারে দামও কমে যায় ওই সময় পর্যন্ত।

কর্তৃপক্ষ বিভিন্ন পদক্ষেপ নেওয়ার পরও বাজার চাঙ্গা না হওয়ার কারণ জানতে চাইলে ডিএসইর প্রথম সহ-সভাপতি আহসানুল ইসলাম বলেন, অনেক বিনিয়োগকারী মার্জিন ঋণ নিয়ে শেয়ার কিনে রেখেছেন। বাজার একটু উর্দ্ধমুখী হলেই তারা শেয়ার বিক্রি করে ঋণ সমন্বয় করছেন। বাজারের নিুমুখী প্রবণতার এটিও একটি কারণ হতে পারে।

ঈদের ছুটির পর থেকেই দেশের প্রধান পুঁজিবাজারে দরপতনের এই ধারা চলছে। ৪ থেকে ১৫ সেপ্টেম্বর পর্যন্ত ১০ কর্মদিবসের মধ্যে ৭ দিনই সূচক পড়েছে এ বাজারে।

বাজার স্থিতিশীল করতে সংশ্লিষ্টদের সঙ্গে বৈঠক করে ইতোমধ্যে বেশ কিছু পদক্ষেপ নিয়েছে বাজার নিয়ন্ত্রক সংস্থা সিকিউরিটিজ এন্ড এক্সচেঞ্জ কমিশন (এসইসি)।

মিউচুয়াল ফান্ডগুলোর ক্ষেত্রে একক শেয়ার ও খাতভিত্তিক শেয়ারে বিনিয়োগের নির্দিষ্ট সীমা তুলে দেওয়া হয়েছে। ব্যাংকগুলো থেকে দেওয়া মার্চেন্ট ব্যাংক ও ব্রোকারেজ হাউজগুলোর জন্য একক গ্রাহক ঋণসীমা সমন্বয়ের সময় ডিসেম্বর থেকে আরও বাড়ানো হবে বলেও আশ্বাস দেওয়া হয়েছে।
Source:Bdnews24