Stocks jumped amid criticism

Indices of both stock exchanges jumped and reached a new apex in the first one and half hour trading session on Tuesday amid criticism questioning overvaluation.

During the period, the DSEX, benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) jumped by 1.04% to reach 7,149 points.

As investors went on a buying spree, 203 companies' share prices advanced, while 122 declined and 49 remained unchanged.

At the end of that period, the turnover of the DSE stood at Tk1,150.66 crore.

Large-cap companies' price hikes boosted the index, said some stockbroker officials.

Some analysts claimed the index is going to be overvalued as few sectors' price-earnings ratios reached a risky position. But the overall market price-earnings ratio is still below the risk point.

Earlier, the securities regulator extended the margin loan facility to 80% against Tk100 to 8,000 points for smoothing liquidity support.

Besides, the regulator is also going to set new criteria for selecting eligible investors for initial public offering subscriptions. The new condition, which is yet to get the commission's approval, is that every BO account needs to invest at least Tk50,000 in the secondary market instead of Tk20,000.

Meanwhile, British American Tobacco secured the top position in the turnover chart with a value of Tk67 crore in the DSE. 

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange's key index CASPI rose 0.787% to 20,821 points till 11:30 am.

The Bangladesh Bank is also in a strict position to prevent investment by the banks in the capital market as they thought the market is leaning towards a dangerous situation.

Recently, the central bank fined the NRBC Bank and warned 14 banks for violating rules on stock investments.