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A small group of 'investors' on Tuesday last took to the streets in the business district of Motijheel protesting the current state of the country's stock market.
Such a street protest is nothing new for the investors. They have been doing it occasionally for nearly two and a half decades.
The response of the market to the last Tuesday's protest, however, was also according to the old script; for no reason, the prices of the most listed issues increased, though marginally, on Wednesday.
Many tend to believe that the rise of the market on Wednesday was a 'dictated' one. There was no plausible reason for the market to go up since too few money chased too many shares on the day. The turnover on Wednesday was even less than that of the previous day when market had lost nearly 90 points.
The development does, actually, confirm the fact that manipulation has been eating into the vitals of the market. If someway or other the market can be raised artificially, there is every reason to believe that the market can also be pulled down the same way. So, in such a situation the investors cannot be blamed for losing confidence in the market and deserting it.
Whoever is responsible for this type of interference, actually, has been causing serious damage to the growth of the stock market.
The stock market has experienced a number of mini crashes since its collapse in 2010. The latest crash appears to be a prolonged one and very annoying.
Market pundits are clueless about the continuous erosion in stock prices. Even the stock brokers at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), who are never found short of reasons to define the market situation at any point of time, are 'puzzled' by the ongoing behaviour of the market.
When contacted by this paper to give his reaction to the ongoing market situation, the head of a leading brokerage firm had refused on Tuesday, saying the market behaviour is now beyond explanation.
What now ails the market most is the substantial scarcity of liquidity. Even a minimum inflow of liquidity is not there to support the market. Unless and until institutional players are active enough, the market will continue to suffer.
The prices of most quality stocks are now rather alluring. In fact, it is high time that real investors rushed to the market and buy as much as possible. But that is not happening because of liquidity shortage. Banks and other financial institutions are not in a comfortable situation. Despite having the urge they are not being able to enter the market.
The government has so far tried a number of steps to infuse buoyancy into the stock market. Usually, infused buoyancy does not last long. In the case of Bangladesh market, it has again been proved. Unless and until institutional investors enter the market with reasonable volumes of money, the latter will continue to limp. The government may encourage these investors to make a plunge, but the time is not that favourable, it seems.
The government does need to try yet another step--- reorganising the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC). The demand to this effect has been growing lately. Then, what is the harm in trying it?