Stocks rally for second day

Staff Correspondent
Dhaka stocks continued with the gaining streak for the second day as many of the investors went for buying following government move to become flexible on banks about their exposure to the capital market.
The benchmark general index or DGEN of Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 92.26 points or 1.70 percent to close the day at 5,489.88 points.
Turnover on the day also rose slightly to Tk 330.97 crore compared to Tk 296.48 crore in the previous session.
Market operators said investors, both institutions and retailers, went on buying on the day as Bangladesh Bank on Thursday extended the deadline for banks and financial institutions to adjust their excess loans they had provided to their merchant banking or brokerage wings from August 31 to December 31 in a bid to increase liquidity supply in the volatile market.
They said that last few weeks’ fall was mainly because the subsidiary companies of the banks went for selling shares to meet the central bank’s complacence.
They also said that retail investors also followed the market trend and went for selling as they became panicked following continuous fall in the stock prices.
Contradictory comments of government high-ups on imposing capital gain tax and making taxpayers’ identification number mandatory for beneficiary owners account also had intensified the panic among investors, they said.
‘As the Bangladesh Bank became flexible on banks, the investors took it as a positive sign and became active in trading,’ said a stockbroker.   
‘The turnover, however, did not indicate any substantial change,’ he added.  
Many of the investors said that although they wanted to buy but they were facing a liquidity shortage after losing most of their capital in the recent market crash.
‘I would like to buy at this moment but my money is stuck in the market with huge losses,’ said an investor. ‘At this moment it’s impossible for me to inject fresh funds in the market,’ he added.
Out of 261 issues traded on the day, 234 advanced while 25 declined and two remained unchanged.
Trading at DSE started positive on the day as the index gained 42 points in five minutes. Although the DGEN dived immediate after the gain as a profit taking sell pressure hit the market for a while.
The DEGN was back on track as some investors considered the price lucrative expecting the gaining streak would continue for some more days. The market ended in positively with the closing bell.
Meanwhile, investors went for a sit-in in front of the DSE on Sunday as they announced to continue the programme until June 9, demanding a capital market friendly budget for the next fiscal.
From their protest demonstration,  they demanded resignation of finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman and finance adviser to prime minister Mashiur Rahman.