BANGLADESH

The benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange rose again on Wednesday, coming a day after Tuesday's fall broke a four-day rising spell.

The DSE general index rose to 4289.7 points, gaining 112.48 points or 2.69 percent.

Shares and mutual funds worth Tk 2.53 billion changed hands, with prices of 234 issues gaining, 17 declining and five remaining unchanged.

The benchmark index was 4235.79 points, with a gain of 58.56 points or 1.4 percent, at 1:08pm; and 4323.78 points, advancing 146.55 points or 3.5 percent, at 2:08pm.

On Tuesday, the DSE general index slipped to 4177.22 points, losing 113.31 points or 2.64 percent.

The key index posted a gain of 64.37 points or 1.52 percent and rose to 4290.54 points on Monday. The premier bourse opened the week gaining 5.37 percent to 4226.18 points on Sunday.

Only last week, the bourse saw the index plummet to the lowest since December 2010. Despite undergoing topsy-turvy trading all through the week, DSE ended last week with a 201.03 points or 5.28 percent rise on Thursday.

The slide on Feb 6 set a new record with the DGEN plummeting to 3616.24 points—the lowest it has touched so far since December 2010. However, the rise on Thursday and an above 9-percent hike on Feb 7 saw the week closing at 4010.8 points, after gaining around 165 points.

Although the market stabilised a little in December 2011 after market regulator SEC declared a package of incentives, the stocks started taking a battering from the first week of the new year.