Dhaka stocks ended mixed Sunday amid frustration and disquiet, sparked by the proposed revision in the mutual fund rules.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) opened with a somewhat downbeat mood and the trend continued towards the close of the trade.
The market barometers - the benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) and All Shares Price Index (DSI) - shed 12.84 points and 5.42 points to close at 3011.62 and 2592.42 respectively. But the DSE-20, comprising the blue chips, gained 17.25 points to end at 2534.84.
The securities regulator's proposal on restricting the issuance of right or bonus shares caused the share prices of all the mutual funds to decline between six and 20 per cent, according to the market operators.
The drastic fall prompted a group of retail investors to gather in front of the DSE building at around 10:30 am, who demanded cancellation of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision to review the mutual fund rules.
The SEC recently decided in principle to review the close-end mutual fund rules, barring the mutual funds from issuance of right and bonus shares to the general shareholders.
The protest with interval lasted for about one hour. The law-enforcing agencies brought the situation under control without any untoward incident. Later, the protestors submitted a memorandum related to their demands to the DSE and the SEC.
Economist Abu Ahmed said, "The SEC previously made a mistake by allowing the mutual funds to issue right and bonus shares. However, it is better late than never. Though the decision is painful for the investors, but they should accept the reality."
He said, the close-end mutual funds are usually traded below their net asset value (NAV). "But shares of the mutual funds in our country behaved like other shares, creating volatility in their prices. But mutual funds are always considered as risk-free tools," he added.
Of the top ten losers, all were mutual funds. Stock prices of the AIMS First Mutual Fund had the biggest fall of 19.96 per cent to close at Tk 17.28 per share. Later, the DSE halted the share trading of the AIMS in order to prevent further fall of its prices.
ICB Islamic fell 13.49 per cent, ICB Fist NRB 11.89 per cent, 8th ICB 11.48 per cent, 7th ICB 10.77 per cent, Grameen One Mutual Fund 10.69 per cent, 1st BSRS 10.57 per cent, ICB Islamic 10.04 per cent, and 4th ICB 0.23 per cent.
The total turnover rose to Tk 2.65 billion against the previous trading day's Tk 2.19 billion. Out of 214 issues traded, 62 advanced, 140 declined, and 12 remained unchanged. The total market capitalisation slightly came down to Tk 932.30 billion against Tk 933.88 billion.
Share prices of the most insurance companies rose during the day, and among the top ten gainers, nine were insurance companies.
Popular Life Insurance gained 17.74 per cent, Pragati Life Insurance 9.57 per cent, Progressive Life Insurance 10.92 per cent, and ICB Islamic Bank, Sandhani Life Insurance and Meghna Life Insurance 9.99 per cent each.
Square Pharma was the top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 234.38 million traded, and Lanka Bangla Finance the second top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 203.97 million changing hands.
Grameen One, Fareast Life Insurance, AB Bank, ICB Islamic Bank, Uttara Bank, Meghna Life Insurance, Pragati Life Insurance and Shahjalal Bank were the other turnover leaders of the day.
