Body to probe unusual trading in Navana CNG shares

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FE Report
A two-member enquiry committee has been formed to probe the suspected unusual trading of the shares of Navana CNG, a leading gas refilling service provider in the country.
The company made debut on August 30 last under direct listing regulations in the two bourses -- Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange -- simultaneously.
"The Securities and Exchange Commission has formed the body to investigate the unusual trading of the Navana CNG," Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan, executive director of the SEC, said Tuesday.
The committee, headed by SEC Executive Director ATM Tariquzzaman, was asked to submit report by October 8 next. Another member of the committee is its Director Mohammad Rezaul Karim.
Despite one and a half-hour trading suspension on its debut trading day at the DSE, a total 1657800 Navana CNG shares worth Tk 315.78 million changed hands.
On the day, the opening price of the new entrant was Tk 181 a share and it gained 1710 per cent on its face value of Tk 10 per share to close at Tk 193.90 per share. During the mid-session the value rose as high as Tk 270 for a while.
A total of 5765200 shares worth Tk 1.24 billion were traded on its second trading day.
On its eighth trading day, entire offloading (sale) of 1,81,50,000 shares of the company was completed and it withdrew around Tk 4.0 billion from the market.
Meanwhile, Dhaka stocks closed slightly lower Wednesday after marginally gaining in the previous session amid significant increase in turnover.
Share prices of the majority issues climbed as out of 242 issues traded, 138 gained, 96 declined and eight remained unchanged.
The market started upbeat for the first 45 minutes and after that it saw a freefall until mid session and lost 24 points, driven by the banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFI's). Then, the market recovered a few points before trading closed.
The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) closed 2931.86 with a meagre loss of 4.96 points or 0.16 per cent, trimming early gains of six points.
The broader All Shares Price Index (DSI) slipped 5.02 points or 0.20 per cent to end at 2463.83. The DSE 20 blue chip index gained 1.14 points or 0.05 per cent to finish at 2120.16.
The market failed to get back its pulse because of a number of factors including ongoing pre-IPO placement, forthcoming IPOs and imminent Eid-festival, said a top fund manager.
Turnover reversed from previous session's alarmingly low as it registered 29.2 per cent increase. It was Tk 4.34 billion from Tk 3.37 billion of Tuesday.
Most of the banks declined with AB Bank dropping highest of 1.17 per cent. Almost all the NBFIs, energy and all companies lost. Insurance sector ended mixed.
It was a positive day for mutual funds as all mutual funds, except one, advanced.