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Slow DSE website irks investors

Stocks end flat after bumpy ride


FE REPORT | October 05, 2020 00:00:00


Stocks ended almost flat on Sunday after volatile trading as investors were active on both sides of the trading fence.

Meanwhile, many investors alleged that they were unable to get information on time as the website of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) was slow to serve investors and market operators.

Some stockbrokers alleged that they were facing troubles in executing and modifying trading orders on the system, especially the first hour of trading on Sunday.

Investors also faced same troubles on August 18 and August 19 last soon after the prime bourse launched the new website with a mobile view for the convenience of investors.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) formed a 6-member expert committee to probe technical flaws occurred in the DSE website and trading system in August last.

The committee led by Prof. Dr. Md. Mustafizur Rahman, chairman of computer science and engineering department of Dhaka University (DU), submitted a set of recommendations including strengthening the DSE IT department.

Despite the expert panel's recommendations, the prime bourse's website faced the same problem once again which disappointed many investors.

"I could not see the share prices on time due to the problem of the website. But every second is very important in stock trading," said a stock investor named Abdur Rahman.

This type of problem is eroding investors' confidence badly, so the bourse should be serious on it, he said.

DSE officials, however, claimed that there was no problem with the DSE website.

The market opened on positive note on Sunday and the key index of the prime bourse gained more than 18 points within 15 minutes of trading. But almost all the initial gains wiped out amid late hours sell-offs.

DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 2.68 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 4,998, after gaining 32 points in the previous session.

Market operators said a section of investors went on buying binge on major sectors stocks riding on the regulatory moves and interest rate cut on stock investment fund while some opted for booking profit on sector-wise issues, taking the market in the flat zone.

However, two other indices ended in the red. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, fell 3.22 points to finish at 1,707 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 3.57 points to close at 1,123.

Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 8.89 billion, which was 1.84 per cent higher than the previous session's turnover of Tk 8.73 billion.

Major sectors showed mixed performances- mutual fund units witnessed the highest correction, losing 3.10 per cent, followed by food with 1.5 per cent and financial institutions 1.2 per cent.

The engineering, general insurance and banking sectors achieved price appreciation with gaining 4.3 per cent, 4.0 per cent and 0.80 per cent respectively.

Losers outnumbered the gainers as out of 355 issues traded, 171 closed lower, 133 ended higher while 51 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.

A total number of 169,964 trades were executed in the day's trading session with a trading volume of 359.32 million shares and mutual fund units.

Beximco Pharma topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk 631 million changing hands, closely followed by Beximco, Sandhani Life Insurance, Brac Bank and Rupali Life Insurance.

Takaful Islami Insurance was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.94 per cent while Familytex (BD) was the worst loser, losing 10 per cent.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange also ended almost flat in green with its All Shares Price Index (CASPI)-gaining 4.57 points to close at 14,292 while the Selective Categories Index - CSCX advancing 7.66 points to close at 8,583.

Of the issues traded, 126 declined, 104 advanced and 36 remained unchanged on the CSE.

The port city bourse traded 10.71 million shares and mutual fund units with turnover value of more than Tk 292 million.

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