Singer dividends drive stocks

A better-than-expected declaration by a multinational company led investors to buy shares with full confidence yesterday.
Singer Bangladesh recommended 600 percent cash dividends and 75 percent stock dividends for the year to 2010.
Singer was the biggest gainer of the day, posting a 32.42 percent rise in its share price that closed at Tk 7,667. It was Tk 5,789 on Tuesday.
The benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) advanced 93.76 points, or 1.48 percent, to close at 6,411 points. The DSE general index slumped 140 points on Tuesday as investors booked profits.
The selective price index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange gained 139 points, or 1.2 percent, to close at 11,647 points.
The market will remain closed today to mark the birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Market experts observed that most investors are switching to fundamentally strong shares. It is a good trend that investors are considering company fundamentals before making any investment, said experts.
But Prof Mahmud Osman Imam, who teaches finance at Dhaka University, said: “The shares of some low-profile companies behaved unusually. Investors should stop investing in those low-profile companies."