DSEX hits record high despite glitch-induced trade halt

Trading at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) halted for over an hour due to a technical glitch on Sunday, but still the DSE's benchmark index DSEX rose by 0.91% to reach 6,365 points – the highest in its history.  

Earlier, the DSEX's highest position since its launching in 2014 was 6,338 points posted on 26 November, 2017.  

Yesterday, the trading at the DSE halted from 11.09am to 12:30pm due to a software problem. The DSE officials said its IT department resolved the issue and trading resumed around 1pm.

After that, the DSE extended the trading time to 3:30pm yesterday as per the securities regulator's direction, said Abdul Matin Patwary, acting managing director of the DSE. 

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) officials said there was a huge pressure of buy and sales orders from the investors since trading started at the DSE yesterday and the software at the trading floor could not handle it. The technologies used by the DSE need to be upgraded as no modern stock exchange can operate in this way.

Besides, those who operate the DSE's trading software also lack technical skills, said the BSEC officials.

BSEC Commissioner Dr Shaikh Shamsuddin Ahmed told The Business Standard, "It is not desirable that the transactions would halt suddenly due to a technical error. This commission was very annoyed with the DSE because of this. We have instructed them to do everything required to prevent this from happening again."

DSE Acting Managing Director Abdul Matin Patwary said, "So far we have had problems with our order management system software. But today there was a problem with the Nasdaq software used to operate the matching engine. Nasdaq resolved the issue within 30 minutes and they will submit a report to us on why this problem has occurred."

Meanwhile, an emergency board meeting was held at the DSE yesterday over the technical errors in transactions. The DSE acting managing director said the officials concerned have been directed to submit a report on the technical faults.

Such technical problems are not new at the premier bourse, where the investors occasionally have to deal with problems in transactions. 

Earlier, on 18 August last year, the investors faced immense problems after the DSE launched an updated version of its website and it continued for two days. The DSE said the updated site will be very user-friendly and responsive, but the investors continued to suffer.

The BSEC formed a six-member expert committee to probe technical flaws that occurred in the DSE website and trading systems at that time.

Dr Md Mustafizur, professor of Dhaka University's computer science and engineering department, convened the committee, while Md Sohidul Isalm, an assistant director of the BSEC, acted as its secretary.

The market on Sunday
 

Aside from the DSEX's record high position, the DSE blue-chip index DS30 gained 1.36% to settle at 2,306 on Sunday. 

The turnover of the DSE increased by 0.18% compared to the previous trading day and reached Tk1,793 crore yesterday.

During the session, 210 companies' share prices advanced, 150 declined and 13 remained unchanged on the DSE.

The most traded share was Beximco Limited with a trade value of Tk152.59 crore, which was followed by SS Steel and Fuwang Ceramic.

Miracle Industries, a weak company which is traded under the B category, secured the top position in the gainers' list followed by Legacy Footwear and Index Agro.

The shares of Tamijuddin Textile, which was relisted from the over the counter market, performed worst by losing 9.96% share price due to sales pressure for booking profit as its share price jumped above 580%.

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange's key index CASPI gained 60 points to close at 18,379 yesterday.

The EBL Securities said in its daily market review, "Investors have engaged in a buying spree in the second last session before the Eid vacation which has propped up most of the major sectoral issues in the green zone. Regulatory reforms, lower money market return, removal of floor price restrictions are some of the factors contributing to the ongoing bullish trend of the market."