Ahsan Habib

The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) rose to its record high yesterday despite technical glitches halting trade at the premier bourse for around one and a half hours.

The blue-chip index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange is lagging behind the broader index as most investors prefer to bet on low-priced securities and are driven by rumours instead of making investment decisions by examining the fundamentals of companies.

Junk shares are being traded like hot cakes on the stock exchanges of Bangladesh as rumours are mostly sending such securities to lofty heights rather than performances.

Hardly any improvement in workplace safety has taken place at the non-garment factories over the years as the authorities were primarily bogged down in fixing the loopholes in the apparel industry.

Government officials, lawyers, engineers, owners of construction companies, private clinics and doctors mostly whitened their undisclosed wealth last fiscal year.

Four small capital-based companies which have returned from the over-the-counter (OTC) market have been turned into new pawns by gamblers in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

Twelve out of the country’s 22 listed fuel and power companies saw profits increase year-on-year in the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal year thanks to the rebounding of the economy.

Stocks of GPH Ispat rose 2.47 per cent yesterday after news that the company’s Tk 2,390-crore plant has begun commercial production.

The gloomy picture of the banking sector led to a fall in the stock market over the past week amid rising coronavirus cases and deaths.

The stock market has risen to new heights with market capitalisation hitting a high point last week while overvalued shares still remaining a concern.

The stock price of almost all general insurance companies has more than doubled over the past year riding on speculation, putting the whole market at risk.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday recorded its highest turnover in a decade, as the ongoing bull run seems to have gotten an added impetus from the proposed budget measures for the incoming fiscal year.

Bata Shoe Company (Bangladesh), one of the country’s most widely known footwear brands, suffered losses for the first time in 59 years of operations as it had to shutter outlets during the main sales seasons amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The national budget for 2021-22 is being proposed today all the while the country’s economy faces some tough realities stemming from the pandemic’s second wave.

The government’s national budget implementation rate fell significantly in the last one decade mainly due to a lack of efficiency, accountability and capacity and a rise in corruption.

Just Tk 282 crore was whitened by means of investments in the stock market in fiscal 2020-21 despite a government provision stipulating that no authority would be able to question the source.

The stock market index is hovering around 6,000 points now, raising questions among investors over whether it would remain stable here or take a plunge like before.

Unit holders of Southeast Bank 1st Mutual Fund have given the go-ahead for VIPB Asset Management Company to convert the closed-end fund into an open-end one.

Walton Hi-Tech Industries yesterday made public the good news of its surging profits and plans to strengthen its footprint abroad, leading to a three per cent rise of its stocks.

Listed textile and garment makers are still suffering from falling profits, impacted by lower sales of clothing in the markets abroad amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.