Stock investment is not gambling: Shakil Rizvi

Investment in stockmarket involves risks, but such investments should not be termed gambling, a director and former president of Dhaka Stock Exchange said yesterday.

Any comment without appropriate evidence leaves a negative impact on the capital market, said Shakil Rizvi, also the managing director of Shakil Rizvi Stock Ltd, a stock broker.

“If there are irregularities, action can be taken after identifying those,” he said while addressing a press meet on the bourse's premises.

In response to a query on investor confidence, he said: “By which yardstick will we measure confidence?”

He said market capitalisation and the number of listed companies are increasing. “If there is no confidence, it would not happen.”

The DSE organised the briefing in the wake of the recent negative comments on the capital market that affected the market adversely.

Stocks also extended a losing streak for seven consecutive sessions yesterday. DSEX, the benchmark index of DSE, declined 12.4 points or 0.27 percent, to finish the last day of the week at 4,573.58 points.

Of the traded issues, 99 advanced, 174 declined with 48 securities closing unchanged on the premier bourse. Turnover, another important indicator of the market, however, rose 12.96 percent to Tk 405.04 crore, with 12.61 crore shares and mutual fund units changing hands on the DSE.

Investors were affected by the spread of negative comments on the capital market, said Abdul Matin Patwary, DSE's acting managing director, while reading out a written statement.

“But we think that our market is friendly for long-term investment, which is evident from market capitalisation that rose 31 percent to Tk 315,000 crore in 2015, from Tk 240,000 crore in 2012.” The number of listed securities was 243 in 2012 that rose to 288 at the end of 2015, he said.

Chittagong stocks also fell yesterday with the bourse's benchmark index, CSCX, declining 12.76 points or 0.14 percent to finish the day at 8,566.28 points.

Losers beat gainers as 149 declined, 77 advanced while 26 finished unchanged on the Chittagong Stock Exchange.

The port city bourse traded 1.39 crore shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 29.9 crore in turnover.