Bug in brokers' computers halts Dhaka stocks trading
FE Report | Thursday, 10 July 2008
Invasion of the computer networks belonging to a large number of brokerage houses by a new virus halted most part of the trading at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Wednesday.
A total of 120 brokerage houses failed to log on with main server of the bourse at the very start of the day's trading because of the virus attack, leading to a crisis or quorum.
Some big private companies and government offices were invaded by the same virus-- cool_gamesetup.exe, golf_ game.exe and ackdoor.win32.hupigon.crich-- during last two weeks, sources said.
Of them, software operation systems of private companies have already been restored, said an official of an IT company, AKNET that is working to choke the virus off in a number of corporate firms.
The computer network of the ACME, a pharma company, was attacked by the same strain of virus but it is now out of danger, an official of the IT firm said, adding that the work is also going on to restore the virus-hit system of the BIRDEM soon.
The main server of the prime bourse, however, remains immune from the latest virus attack since it is the specially designed for 'guardian based' non-stop operations.
The trading system of maximum brokerage houses was affected since their systems are mainly windows based, which is vulnerable to the latest virus.
"It was not possible to execute the trading full time as the trading system of significant number of brokerage houses were infected by the virus, creating quorum crisis," said Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, chief executive officer of the DSE.
"To begin the day's trading, more than 65 brokerage houses were needed to log on with the main server of the bourse. Otherwise, the trade becomes biased in the absence of quorum," he added.
Asked if it would possible to do usual trading today (Thursday), he said, "I hope the trade will resume today as usual but I can't be absolutely sure."
Salahuddin said that they were trying to set up software made by a Russian company in a move to prevent the virus attack in future.
ASM Khairuzzaman, chief technology officer of DSE, said, "Fourteen IT teams of the bourse are making their effort in full swing to choke the virus off."
The DSE attempted to start trade twice-first time at 12:00 noon and then again at 1:00 pm but failed because there was lack of quorum. Later, the trade began after the scheduled time of trading at 2:00 pm and continued until 3:00 pm.
Finally in brief trading, the benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN), All Shares Price Index (DSI) and DSE-20 Index (DS20) shed 21.09, points, 11.79 points, 12.79 points to end at 2968.92, 2555.94 and 2559.15 respectively.
Stocks prices of all mutual funds (MFs), which were falling persistently since June 26 when the securities regulator decided in principle to review the mutual fund rules, except three, rebounded on the day on the rumour that the present SEC chief might quit.
Chairman the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi dismissed outright the rumour saying that he has no intention to leave. "This is no pressure from the government in this regard," he affirmed.
A group of investors are deliberately spreading the rumour, said an official of the commission.
The total turnover during the day's shortened transaction was Tk 1.30 billion against the previous day's Tk 3.15 billion. But the gainers outshined the losers as out of 193 issues traded, 107 advanced, 78 declined and eight remained unchanged. The total market capitalisation was Tk 969.84 billion.
Stock prices of the state-run gas distribution company Titas fell 5.02 per cent to close at Tk 396.50 per share and its highest prices was Tk 410.00 per share on the day.
In its sixth trading day, a total of 103450 shares out of total 21411728 have been sold at the both the stock exchanges - DSE and CSE, according to the selling agent ICB. The company is to sell its 10 per cent of the total offloaded shares within 30 trading days since its debut trading day as per direct listing regulations.
The 8th ICB had the biggest gain of 9.45 per cent, followed by AIMS First Mutual Fund 9.06 per cent, Aramit 8.06 per cent, 6th ICB 7.82 per cent and 7th ICB 7.35 per cent.
Stock prices of the Keya Cosmetics, the sixth gainer, rose 2.33 per cent to close at 87.60 per share, making it the top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 90.48 million traded.
ACI Limited was the second top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 82.05 million traded.
AIMS First Mutual Fund, Lafarge Surma Cement Limited, Lanka Bangla Finance, Beximco, Prime Finance, Beximco Pharma, Square Pharma, BRAC Bank and Prime Finance were the other turnover leaders on the day.
Tripti, Reckitt Benkiser, 4th ICB, Titas, Meghna Petroleum, 5th ICB and Progressive Life Insurance were the top losers.
Meanwhile, stocks of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), unaffected by the computer virus, closed mixed Wednesday with the gainers dominating the losers.
The CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) increased 32.00 points to close at 9076.26. The CSE-30 Index, however, decreased 11.62 points to end at 8060.75.
A total of 143 issues traded, of them, 86 gained, 50 declined and seven remained unchanged.
A total of 120 brokerage houses failed to log on with main server of the bourse at the very start of the day's trading because of the virus attack, leading to a crisis or quorum.
Some big private companies and government offices were invaded by the same virus-- cool_gamesetup.exe, golf_ game.exe and ackdoor.win32.hupigon.crich-- during last two weeks, sources said.
Of them, software operation systems of private companies have already been restored, said an official of an IT company, AKNET that is working to choke the virus off in a number of corporate firms.
The computer network of the ACME, a pharma company, was attacked by the same strain of virus but it is now out of danger, an official of the IT firm said, adding that the work is also going on to restore the virus-hit system of the BIRDEM soon.
The main server of the prime bourse, however, remains immune from the latest virus attack since it is the specially designed for 'guardian based' non-stop operations.
The trading system of maximum brokerage houses was affected since their systems are mainly windows based, which is vulnerable to the latest virus.
"It was not possible to execute the trading full time as the trading system of significant number of brokerage houses were infected by the virus, creating quorum crisis," said Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, chief executive officer of the DSE.
"To begin the day's trading, more than 65 brokerage houses were needed to log on with the main server of the bourse. Otherwise, the trade becomes biased in the absence of quorum," he added.
Asked if it would possible to do usual trading today (Thursday), he said, "I hope the trade will resume today as usual but I can't be absolutely sure."
Salahuddin said that they were trying to set up software made by a Russian company in a move to prevent the virus attack in future.
ASM Khairuzzaman, chief technology officer of DSE, said, "Fourteen IT teams of the bourse are making their effort in full swing to choke the virus off."
The DSE attempted to start trade twice-first time at 12:00 noon and then again at 1:00 pm but failed because there was lack of quorum. Later, the trade began after the scheduled time of trading at 2:00 pm and continued until 3:00 pm.
Finally in brief trading, the benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN), All Shares Price Index (DSI) and DSE-20 Index (DS20) shed 21.09, points, 11.79 points, 12.79 points to end at 2968.92, 2555.94 and 2559.15 respectively.
Stocks prices of all mutual funds (MFs), which were falling persistently since June 26 when the securities regulator decided in principle to review the mutual fund rules, except three, rebounded on the day on the rumour that the present SEC chief might quit.
Chairman the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi dismissed outright the rumour saying that he has no intention to leave. "This is no pressure from the government in this regard," he affirmed.
A group of investors are deliberately spreading the rumour, said an official of the commission.
The total turnover during the day's shortened transaction was Tk 1.30 billion against the previous day's Tk 3.15 billion. But the gainers outshined the losers as out of 193 issues traded, 107 advanced, 78 declined and eight remained unchanged. The total market capitalisation was Tk 969.84 billion.
Stock prices of the state-run gas distribution company Titas fell 5.02 per cent to close at Tk 396.50 per share and its highest prices was Tk 410.00 per share on the day.
In its sixth trading day, a total of 103450 shares out of total 21411728 have been sold at the both the stock exchanges - DSE and CSE, according to the selling agent ICB. The company is to sell its 10 per cent of the total offloaded shares within 30 trading days since its debut trading day as per direct listing regulations.
The 8th ICB had the biggest gain of 9.45 per cent, followed by AIMS First Mutual Fund 9.06 per cent, Aramit 8.06 per cent, 6th ICB 7.82 per cent and 7th ICB 7.35 per cent.
Stock prices of the Keya Cosmetics, the sixth gainer, rose 2.33 per cent to close at 87.60 per share, making it the top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 90.48 million traded.
ACI Limited was the second top turnover leader with shares worth Tk 82.05 million traded.
AIMS First Mutual Fund, Lafarge Surma Cement Limited, Lanka Bangla Finance, Beximco, Prime Finance, Beximco Pharma, Square Pharma, BRAC Bank and Prime Finance were the other turnover leaders on the day.
Tripti, Reckitt Benkiser, 4th ICB, Titas, Meghna Petroleum, 5th ICB and Progressive Life Insurance were the top losers.
Meanwhile, stocks of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), unaffected by the computer virus, closed mixed Wednesday with the gainers dominating the losers.
The CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) increased 32.00 points to close at 9076.26. The CSE-30 Index, however, decreased 11.62 points to end at 8060.75.
A total of 143 issues traded, of them, 86 gained, 50 declined and seven remained unchanged.