BANGLADESH

The main indices of the two bourses dropped around four percent on Tuesday, leading the investors to take to the streets.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange general index lost 225.53 points or 4.08 percent, closing at 5293.31, with prices of 249 issues falling, only eight rising and two remaining unchanged. The turnover was Tk 3.35 billion.

This is the second-biggest fall since May 25 this year when the benchmark index shed about 151 points or 2.78 percent to close at 5292.53 points.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) selective categories index (CSCX) lost 387.32 points or 3.89 percent to close at 9555.21 points.

Of the 187 issues changing hands, only five gained, 180 lost and two remained unchanged. The turnover was Tk 502 million.

Agitated investors blocked the streets and chanted slogans repeating demands for the resignation of the finance minister and the central bank governor.

The retail investors blocked the street in front of the DSE building when the general index shed 118.28 points in the first hour of trading. They formed a human chain under the banners of Bangladesh Share Investors' Forum and Capital Market Investors Unity Council.

The index hit 5272.22 points, the day's lowest, around 1:55pm. The investors were seen lying on the street protesting against the heavy fall. Traffic in the area became normal when they left the street around 3:30pm.

The Capital Market Investors Unity Council called a three-day token hunger strike from Wednesday protesting the continuous fall.

Meanwhile, Chittagong Investors' Forum staged a procession and a rally in front of the CSE building. The forum demanded that the brokerage houses and merchant banks stop forced sale of shares.

They called a sit-in programme on Wednesday and a human chain programme on Thursday.

Since the start for the week on Sunday, the DSE general index has lost 194.40 points or 3.39 percent to close at 5533.39 points.

Even though the general index posted some gains after around three hours of fall, it again lost 14.54 points or 0.26 percent to close at 5518.85 points on Monday.

The stock market has been on a low for almost a year now, and no measure by regulators, government or major investors seems to be able to prop the market up.

Spiralling fall in the last two-and-a-half months has shaved 1000 points off the DSE general index.

The index has been falling since January. It turned around once in July but has since faced a massive fall.

'NEW INVESTMENT NEEDED'

Asked about the slide, DSE senior vice president Ahsanul Islam told that the market would not recover until new money is pumped in.

He said Tk 40-50 billion is caught in the 'net of margin loan'. "Both borrowers and lenders are in an awful situation."

"The borrowers sell off shares in panic when they see the money in their portfolios fall every day. This impacts the market," he said.

The DSE official said the Bangladesh Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission should take immediately intervene to this end.

"The National Board of Revenue also has something to do. Several taxes have been imposed on stakeholders including in the mutual funds. These should be withdrawn," he added