Stocks witnessed a big jump on Wednesday thanks to the securities regulator’s decision of not allowing any stock to fall more than 2.0 per cent in a single day.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on Tuesday lowered the circuit breaker limit to 2.0 per cent from 10 per cent in order to curb the free-fall of stocks amid the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The upper limit of the circuit breaker, however, remained unchanged at 10 per cent, meaning any stock price can rise up to 10 per cent in a day.
Apart from lowering the circuit breaker limit, the stock market regulator also ordered an investment of Tk 1.0 billion in the stock market from the stabilisation fund in order to ensure higher liquidity in the market.
Following the news, the market jumped at the opening which was sustained till the end of the session with no sign of reversal.
Finally, DSEX, the core index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) soared 155.73 points or 2.40 per cent to settle at 6,630.
Although the market index returned to a positive trend on Tuesday, it plummeted by 297 points in the previous four trading days, hitting its lowest level for more than seven months last Monday.
Two other indices also ended higher with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, rising 41.52 points to finish at 2,415 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) gained 30.39 points to close at 1,429.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, remained low and amounted to Tk 7.73 billion, which was 3.62 per cent higher than the previous day’s tally of Tk 7.46 billion.
Prices of 97 per cent traded issues closed in the positive, as out of 378 issues traded, 365 advanced, only three declined and 10 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total number of 169,925 trades were executed in the day’s trading session with a trading volume of 205.27 million securities.
The market cap of the DSE also rose by 2.20 per cent to Tk 5,336 billion Wednesday, up from Tk 5,221 billion in the previous day.
Beximco topped the turnover chart with shares worth nearly Tk 408 million changing hands, followed by Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (Tk 298 million), Fortune Shoes (Tk 256 million), and Orion Pharma (Tk 146 million).
Nitol Insurance was the day’s top gainer, posting 9.95 per cent gain while IDLC Finance was the worst loser, losing 4.87 per cent following its price adjustment after the record date.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended sharply higher with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI –rising 382 points to settle at 19,400 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX soaring 226 points to close at 11,640.
Of the issues traded, 250 advanced, 32 declined and 11 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 9.90 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value worth Tk 244 million.
