Dhaka stocks bounced back to an upward trend on Thursday as institutional buyers, as per the directive of the government, kept the market afloat after five days of continuous slide, market operators said.
Officials of Securities and Exchange Commission said that institutional investors like Investment Corporation of Bangladesh and other brokerage houses and merchant banks were asked to buy shares on the day so that the market did not fall further.
The general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, or DGEN, advanced by 60.05 points, or 0.97 percent, to close at 6,192.61 points amid a topsy-turvy trading on the day.
'The DGEN fluctuated heavily today and whenever the index took a slide, institutional investors bought shares in small volumes,' said a market operator.
As the jittery retail investors refrained from investing, the turnover on the day hit a seven week low to Tk 476.82 crore compared to Tk 611.65 crore on the previous day. On March 1 the daily turnover was Tk 431.71 crore.
Out of 253 traded issues on the day, 212 advanced slightly while 38 declined and three remained unchanged.
Retail investors remained panicked for the last few days following rumours about the government move on the probe report on January's stock market debacle.
Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, a Dhaka University finance teacher, said, 'The investors on the day continued with the wait and see policy as they were still wary about the government's move with regard to the probe report.'
Source: New Age
