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Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Sunday dropped to Tk 135.90 crore, the lowest since February 24, due to a decreased participation of investors, market operators said.
   On February 24 the DSE turnover was Tk 116.24 crore.
   However, during this period, the DSE posted a Tk 130.93-crore turnover on July 9 as virus attacks on the servers and computers of majority of the brokerage firms hampered share trading at the bourse. That day the bourse remained active for around one hour only and so is not considered a normal trading day.
   A merchant bank official said, on Sunday, big individual investors as well as institutional investors remained almost inactive as they took a ‘wait-and-see’ policy. Dhaka stocks fell Sunday for the second trading day after a qucikfire surge on last Wednesday.
   On Sunday, the DSE general index lost 40.09 points, or 1.50 per cent, to close at 2636.74, while its blue chips index, DSE20, shed 21.90 points, or 0.97 per cent, to finish at 2237.36.
   Market operators said investors remained shaky amid the volatility in the share market in recent weeks.
   They said investors also offloaded their holdings for cash to chase the securities of ACI Formulations Limited and Shinepukur Ceramics Limited slated for making their debuts on Tuesday under the direct listing regulations.
   On Wednesday, DSE benchmark index had gained 71.34 points on moves taken by the SEC to stabilise the market, they said. However, the market went into the red on the following day that saw a Tk 234.19-crore turnover.
   Of the total 234 issues traded at the DSE on Sunday, 65 advanced, 165 declined and four remained unchanged.
   Beximco Pharmaceuticals topped the turnover leaders with a total transaction of Tk 11.88 crore.
   Beximco, Uttara Bank, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, ACI, Grameen Two Mutual Fund, Islami Bank, Aims First Mutual Fund, IFIC Bank and Square Pharmaceuticals were the rest of the top 10 turnover leaders.
   The day saw Chittagong Stock Exchange’s selective categories index losing 46.56 points, or 0.87 per cent, to close at 5285.86, while its blue chips index, CSE30, shed 49.65 points, or 0.69 per cent, to finish at 7146.81.
   Of the total 128 issues traded on the CSE floor, 35 posted gain and 93 dropped.
   The turnover at the CSE went down to Tk 27.54 crore from the Thursday’s Tk 46.20 crore.

World leaders, meeting for a crisis summit in Washington, have agreed on an action plan to restore global growth and prevent future financial upheaval while promising new spending plans, a trade deal and a set of reforms.
   A final statement from the leaders after one of the
   biggest international economic gatherings in years pledged responses on a number of fronts, with another meeting scheduled for April to flesh out policies.
   Government spending plans are to be used to reverse immediate economic decline, a global trade deal is to be promoted to guard against protectionism, and financial regulation and world financial institutions are to be reformed.
   ‘We are determined to enhance our cooperation and work together to restore global growth and achieve needed reforms in the world’s financial systems,’ the G20 said Saturday, after the crisis summit in Washington.
   The meeting of the Group of 20 nations, which represent 85 per cent of the world economy, was convened by outgoing US president George W Bush to tackle the financial crisis that is seen as the worst since the 1930s.
   While weeks ago some had talked expansively of redrawing the financial system in a ‘Bretton Woods II’ overhaul in Washington, the final communique amounted to a commitment to keep working on reforms.
   The G20 leaders tasked their finance ministers with drawing up a series of recommendations by March 31 to be brought before a new summit in April, at a location to be announced shortly.
   Six areas will be specifically targeted: regulating those parts of the financial markets that have exacerbated the crisis, boosting transparency and reforming ‘fat cat’ compensation practices.
   The ministers, from the industrialised and emerging world, must also evaluate global accounting norms and the financing needs of international financial institutions.
   Finally, they must draw up a list of financial institutions whose collapse would imperil the global financial system.
   Bush said the leaders had agreed that both the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the two main international financial institutions created in 1944 in Bretton Woods, should be modernised.
   ‘We should reform the international financial institutions. Again, these institutions have been very important — the World Bank, IMF — but they were based on an economic order of 1944,’ he told a press conference.
   British prime minister Gordon Brown told reporters ‘it is absolutely clear that we are trying to build new institutions for the future.’
   The final communique was also significant in what it did not include. There was no mention of the creation of a global financial market enforcer as demanded by some European and emerging countries but opposed by the United States.
   ‘Regulation is first and foremost the responsibility of national regulators who constitute the first line of defense against market instability,’ the G20 statement stated.
   There was no reference to coordinated stimulus packages from governments either, an idea promoted by Britain.
   The final agreement said leaders would use ‘fiscal measures to stimulate domestic demand to rapid effect.’
   ‘I believe that you will see in the next few weeks significant further announcements of tax and spending plans by a number of countries,’ Brown said at a press conference. The meeting of G20 countries, rather than the G7 group of rich countries favoured in the past, reflects the rise of emerging economies and their increasingly important role in the world economy.
   ‘There is no logic to making any political and economic decisions without the G20 members — developing countries must be part of the solution to the global financial crisis,’ said Lula. Despite the consensus for the broad ideas of the communique, the summit was severely hamstrung by the absence of the man of the moment: US president-elect Barack Obama.
   The Democrat sent former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and ex-Republican lawmaker Jim Leach to meet with members of visiting delegations on his behalf.
   Bush, who bid an emphatic ‘goodbye’ at the end of his press conference, said he had told fellow leaders that the United States would enjoy a ‘seamless’ transition to Obama’s new team.
   The summit, which involved the major industrialised powers as well as emerging giants Brazil, China, India and Russia, also concluded with a pledge to revive World Trade Organization talks begun in 2001 on a new global deal.
   The last attempt to clinch a deal in the Doha Round of talks, intended to boost global commerce by lowering trade barriers, fell apart in July in Geneva.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is yet to remove some flaws in the direct listing regulations in the method of pricing a company’s shares while only one day remains before ACI Formulations Ltd and Shinepukur Ceramics Ltd debut at Dhaka and Chittagong bourses.
   ‘The two companies will make their debuts on bourses under the same regulations as five other companies did,’ SEC executive director Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan told New Age on Sunday.
   He is also on the committee that the commission had formed in August comprising representatives from different capital market stakeholders to amend the regulations as some experiences showed some defects in the pricing system of the regulations. The committee was asked to submit its suggestions as early as possible.
   Anwarul said the committee was working to remove the loopholes in the regulations introduced in early 2006 and held a number of meetings. He, however, declined to comment on the latest status of the amendment process.
   Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company failed to sell even a single share on its stock exchange debut on July 6 as the company expected a higher price. The market also witnessed heavy price fluctuation of Jamuna Oil Company share on its debut.
   The share price of Jamuna Oil surged to Tk 952 against the face value of Tk 10 on the debut day, January 9, but it dropped below Tk 350 in the following days.
   Under the current arrangements by the bourses, buyers are given to build up price during the first 10 minutes of a company’s debut trading day. At the 11th minute, the issuer is supposed to place shares for sale at the best market price quoted by the investors.
   But Titas Gas did not sell any share on its debut day as it found the prices quoted by the investors lower than its expectations.
   ‘Following such experiences, the Dhaka Stock Exchange proposed to the SEC to bring about changes in the existing direct listing rules, but the commission is yet to correct the rules,’ DSE chief executive officer Salahuddin Ahmed Khan told New Age on Sunday.
   The five state-owned enterprises—Titas Gas Distribution and Transmission Company, Jamuna Oil Company, Meghna Petroleum, Power Grid Company Bangladesh, and Dhaka Electricity Supply Company—went public under the direct listing regulations.
   Two private sector companies, ACI Formulations and Shinepukur Ceramics, will make their debut on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges tomorrow (Tuesday).
   ACI Formulations, a subsidiary of ACI Limited which holds 86.97 per cent shares of the company, will offload 89,87,500 shares of Tk 10 each totalling Tk 8.99 crore or 35.95 per cent of its existing paid-up capital of Tk 25 crore.
   Shinepukur Ceramics, a subsidiary of Beximco Limited, will offload 3,50,11,800 ordinary shares of Tk 10 each, totalling Tk 35.01 crore, which is 50 per cent of its Tk 70.02-crore paid-up capital.
   Trading of ACI Formulations and Shinepukur Ceramics shares will be held in spot markets up to 12 noon for the first two trading days.
   Trading will remain closed on the third day to allow the market to distribute the shares that were traded on the first two days.
   Investors will be allowed to place order for a market lot of 100 shares but not more than five market lots or a maximum of 500 shares in a single order for the first five days of trading for each company, when the circuit breaker and circuit filter will remain open.

British-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce, a forum of Bangladeshi expatriates in the UK, stressed the need for immediate steps to develop a special economic zone in Sylhet and stop harassment of expatriates back home.
   ‘We think immediate steps should be taken to implement the proposed SEZ in Sylhet
   and protect non-resident Bangladeshis from harassments by various authorities so that they feel encouraged to invest in home,’ said Shahgir Bakth Faruq, the chamber president.
   A delegation of the chamber Sunday exchanged views with local authorities, businesspeople and people’s representatives at the divisional commissioner’s conference room, and reaffirmed their interest in investing in productive and service sectors if a hassle-free investment climate is ensured especially for NRBs.
   Shahgir led the delegation which also includes the chamber’s London branch president Muhib Ali, BBCC vice-
   president Saad Gazi, former mayor of Tower Hamlet Saiful Alam and other leaders Mobarak Ali and Ranjana Chowdhury addressed the programme.
   Divisional commissioner in Sylhet Zafar Ahmed Khan chaired the function, where DIG police Abul Kashem Sazzadul Hasan, and deputy commissioners of Sylhet, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sunamganj districts, Sylhet Osmani Airport manager Hafiz Ahmed, former president of the Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and Industry Faruq Ahmed Misbah, and senior vice-president Nasim Hossain, among others, also spoke.
   The divisional commissioner said the government is
   sincere about ensuring
   welfare of the expatriate Bangladeshis.
   He urged the NRBs to take part actively in implementation of the proposed special economic zone as expatriates had nearly Tk 7,000 crore as deposits with different banks in the division.
   ‘The government is working for creating an investment-friendly environment in the country to encourage the expatriates to invest in productive sectors here,’ the divisional commissioner said.
   The BBCC delegation also met Sylhet mayor Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran at his office Sunday.
   The mayor requested the expatriate business leaders to extend their support to boost the small cottage industries of clothes and handicrafts, which are common in the region which is home to various ethnic minority communities.

Palm oil prices could fall by 46 per cent next year due to oversupply and waning demand for biofuels, despite measures to cut production in Southeast Asia, a brokerage group has said.
   CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets has slashed its forecast for palm oil prices by 46 per cent in 2009 and 32 per cent in 2010, from current levels of about 1,455 ringgit ($405) per tonne.
   In a report released last week, the brokerage said it expects the commodity to trade at 1,000 ringgit ($278) per tonne next year and 1,250 ringgit in 2010.
   Prices of palm oil have plummeted by 68 per cent since a March high of 4,486 ringgit per tonne due to the financial crisis and the falling price of crude oil — which reduces demand for palm oil to supply the biodiesel industry.
   Malaysia’s palm oil inventory in October hit a record 2.1 million tonnes — a 14 per cent increase from the previous year — due to a production surge and a slowdown in exports to China and the Netherlands.
   CLSA said that the inventory build-up is much worse in Indonesia.
   ‘The biofuels story is waning, providing less demand support. We are also sceptical about effectiveness of government initiatives to boost crude palm oil prices,’ it said.
   Malaysia and Indonesia, which account for 85 percent of global palm oil output, plan to replant old trees and mandate biodiesel use to cut supply and bolster prices.
   However, Buddhika Piyasena from Fitch Ratings was less gloomy, saying that prices had ‘pretty much bottomed out’ at current levels and that the risk of further losses was limited.
   ‘We might see these levels continue in the 450 dollars per tonne range for a while,’ Piyasena told AFP, noting that both the world’s top producers, Indonesia and Malaysia, are implementing measures to push up prices.
   Deputy commodities minister Kohilan Pillay said Malaysia aims to fell some 200,000 hectares of old palm oil trees and all government vehicles will start using bio-fuel in the next few months.
   The replanting scheme will involve trees of more than 25 years old as the yield from these trees is low at about 17 tonnes per hectare annually.
   Smallholders will be given a 1,000 ringgit incentive by the government for each hectare replanted.
   ‘A good price for CPO is at the 2,000 ringgit range and this is what we are aiming for,’ he told AFP.
   Fitch’s Piyasena said that if the measures to mandate the use of biofuel in both countries are fully implemented, it could absorb up to 1.0 million tonnes of palm oil.

Masihul Huq Chowdhury has recently joined as MD and CEO of the ICB Islamic Bank Limited.
   Before joining ICB Islamic Bank, he was managing director of Industrial Promotion Development Company of Bangladesh, said a press release. Obtaining MBA from IBA, University of Dhaka, Masihul Huq Chowdhury started his career with American Express Bank in 1992. He worked for international institutions including Standard Chartered and Citi Bank NA.

The Bangladesh Telecommunica-tion Regulatory Commission on Sunday published the draft regulatory and licensing guideline on IP telephony service provider and sought suggestions and recommendations from organisations and individuals.
   A commission release said the draft was posted on www.btrc.gov.bd. The organisations and individuals concerned send in their opinions, suggestions and recommendations by November 30 to iptel@btrc.gov.bd
   The commission will prepare the final guideline after review of the opinions and suggestions, the release said. Once the guideline is prepared, internet service providers will be able to provide their customers with voice call services through interconnection exchanges and international internet gateways.

Speakers at a workshop on Sunday stressed the need for diversification of jute products keeping in view that the golden fibre would bring a good fortune for the country.
   They called for giving importance on foreign design and demand for diversified production of jute goods to feed the world market. The workshop on ‘Technical design of diversified jute goods and raising their production’ was held at the head office of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation in Dhaka.
   Jute Diversification Promotion Centre and the BSCIC organised the workshop, said a press release. ABM Abdullah, executive director of the JDPC, addressed the workshop with ABM Khorshed Alam, director (finance) of the BSCIC, in the chair.

World leaders pledged in Washington Saturday to seek a framework agreement on a stalled new global trade deal by the end of the year as part of a strategy for countering the financial crisis.
   The Doha round of multilateral trade liberalisation talks was launched in the Qatari capital Doha in November 2001 under the auspices of the 153-member World Trade Organisation, but has foundered ever since.
   The last attempt to clinch an agreement fell apart in Geneva in July this year at a ministerial meeting because of differences between the United States and India.
   ‘We shall strive to reach agreement this year on modalities that lead to a successful conclusion to the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda with an ambitious and balanced outcome,’ the leaders said in a final communique after a summit.
   They also said ‘within the next 12 months, we will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing World Trade Organisation-inconsistent measures to stimulate exports.’
   The leaders, ranging from the United States and major European powers to Russia, China, India and Brazil, acknowledged that their economies ‘have the largest stake in the global trading system’ and as such need to act decisively.
   ‘There is determination that we will fight protectionism. One of the ways we can signal that protectionism is unacceptable is by signing a new trade agreement,’ British prime minister Gordon Brown told reporters.
   Referring to the problems in Geneva in July, he added: ‘I believe that the differences between India and America can be resolved.’
   India and the United States disagreed over technical provisions called special safeguard mechanisms.
   These enable countries to impose a special tariff on imports of certain agricultural goods in the event of an import surge or price fall.
   The host of Saturday’s G20 leader meeting, US president George W Bush, said the renewed effort on the Doha negotiations ‘is a very important part of this summit.’
   ‘There is a determined effort to see if we can’t complete the modalities for Doha by the end of December,’ he said.
   Any framework deal reached before the end of the year would then have to be fleshed out before being put up for ratification by members of the WTO.
   There are also doubts about the position of US president-elect Barack Obama on trade issues. He would be responsible for ratifying any agreement when he takes over from Bush in January.
   Obama occasionally struck a protectionist note on the campaign trail.
   WTO director general Pascal Lamy, who recently announced he was seeking a second term at the helm of the WTO, repeated last Wednesday his view that a deal is ‘doable’ if member states showed the necessary commitment.
   The stalled WTO talks have pitted developed countries against emerging nations.
   Developing countries have been pressing for greater access to agricultural markets in the industrialised world. Developed nations are in return seeking a better deal for their manufactured products on developing country markets.
    ‘One of the dangers during a crisis such as this is people will start implementing protectionist policies,’ he said, before adding, ‘Obviously, you know, this crisis has not ended.’
   On Friday European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso warned the US that possible aid for its struggling automakers in the middle of the financial crisis could provoke an EU protest to the WTO.
   ‘We are looking at the plan. The plan has not yet been made official but certainly, if it amounts to illegal state aid we will act at the WTO,’ Barroso said.
   The US Congress approved an aid package worth 25 billion dollars in September to help the auto industry invest in new generation car technology and is under pressure to set aside another 25 billion to help the three major US automakers — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — survive the sharpest market downturn in decades.

Confirmation this week that Germany has slipped into a recession comes after a string of profit warnings from the country’s stable of corporate titans that suggest the worst is yet to come.
   Government data for the world’s top exporter on Thursday showed gross domestic product falling for the second consecutive quarter from July to September, putting Europe’s biggest economy in a technical recession.
   While the statistics paint an already bleak picture, recent comments from Germany’s many export-dependent firms show that conditions on the front line of the global slowdown may get worse before they get better.
   ‘Late 2008 and early 2009 could well be worse. Germany — and the eurozone — have to get ready for a serious recession,’ analyst Holger Schmieding from Bank of America said.
   First came Daimler, the maker of pricey Mercedes saloons as well as trucks, buses and the tiny Smart car, which disclosed on October 23 a 66 per cent drop in operating profits.
   ‘We are living in extraordinary times,’ chief executive Dieter Zetsche said.
   Fellow carmaker BMW also looked to be experiencing a head-on collision with the global slowdown, saying last week that conditions were so uncertain that it could no longer give a serious profit forecast for the year.
   BMW has undertaken a deep restructuring of its personnel and aims to eliminate 8,100 posts by the end of the year and has so far announced that it is cutting output by 65,000 vehicles.
   Porsche reported a 39 per cent slump in sales in North America and in recent weeks has announced that it would produce fewer cars and extend the usual Christmas production break at its factories.
   Volkswagen, meanwhile, which for the most part sells more affordable cars for the masses, appeared to have held up better than its rivals. But Europe’s biggest carmaker did warn on October 30 that 2009 will be tough.
   MAN, which makes heavy trucks and diesel engines, said the same day that its order books were getting thin, particularly for the juggernauts that transport much of the world’s goods.
   Further down the supply chain, auto-parts maker Continental announced it was laying off 5,000 temporary workers, and other areas of the ‘real’ economy are also obviously reeling.
   SAP, the world leader in professional software, which had already said a few weeks earlier that it had suffered a ‘brutal’ drop in orders, lowered its 2008 financial targets on October 28.
   BASF, the world’s top chemicals group, also said it was feeling the pinch.
   ‘The impact of the global financial crisis on the real economy is speeding up and hitting harder,’ BASF chairman Juergen Hambrecht said and the firm cut its 2008 profit forecast and announced 1,000 job cuts.

The crisis plunging the world into a recession is to dominate an APEC summit in Peru next weekend, along with efforts to firm up an international response to the turbulence.
   The November 21-23 gathering of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will also serve as the swansong multilateral summit for US president George W Bush, who leaves office in January 2009.
   Bush, and 20 other heads of state and government from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, will be attending the high-security event.
   Organisers said the leaders — whose countries account for half the world’s trade and nearly 60 per cent of its gross domestic product — will be addressing the economic and financial crisis.
   Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper was to give a speech on how the crisis has affected APEC’s priorities, while the presidents of Mexico and Colombia, Felipe Calderon and Alvaro Uribe, were to examine the implications of the crisis for Latin America and the world.
   Chinese president Hu Jintao was to concentrate on his country’s quest for sustainable development — an issue that has taken on greater importance as Chinese growth slides, even as the country becomes the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases.
   The three-day summit starts just five days after another international gathering of leaders, the G20 summit in Washington.
   That Washington event was exclusively focused on the crisis and underlined the need for reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as well as improved regulations governing the limping global financial system.
   The APEC summit is to be preceded by days of meetings in Lima by ministers and other officials looking to promote trade and other issues in the Asia-Pacific bloc, which stretches from Australasia to Russia.
   In all, there will be more than 3,600 delegates from APEC’s 21 countries in attendance, Luis Giampietri, the chairman of the APEC Peru High-Level Commission, said in a statement.
   The US, Japanese and Chinese contingents will be the biggest, counting 900, 500 and 300 officials, respectively, he said.
   ‘This is a summit that is gathering the most attendants throughout APEC history,’ Giampietri said.
   Javier Kapsoli, the head of the economic and social affairs unit of Peru’s economy ministry, said at an APEC finance ministers’ meeting early this month that matters related to prices for food and commodities would be addressed, along with proposed reforms of capital markets and improved government spending.
   Bilateral meetings and areas of friction among some of APEC’s members were also to be closely watched.
   Host country Peru, meanwhile, is under fire from neighbour Bolivia for going it alone in pursuing a free trade agreement with Europe instead of negotiating within a South American bloc, the Community of Andean Nations.

The ruble is losing value, thousands of jobs are being cut and Russia’s oil boom is over: after years of economic and political stability, the Kremlin could be losing its grip, experts said.
   Finance minister Alexei Kudrin this week admitted that lower oil prices meant Russia’s financial reserves could run dry next year, while Kremlin economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich conceded the ruble could slip further.
   Prime minister Vladimir Putin has meanwhile been berating the country’s banks for not passing credits granted by the state on to ailing banks and companies in the wider economy, accusing them of ‘corporate egoism’.
   For ordinary Russians lulled into a sense of greater security — at least compared to the upheavals of the 1990s — by the sound economic management under ex-president Putin, the financial crisis has come as a shock.
   Opinion polls in recent days show more and more people are feeling the effects of the crisis as Russian industrial giants suffer from the slump in global demand and credits that helped fuel Russia’s boom dry up.
   The All-Russia Centre for the Study of Public Opinion said on Thursday that seven times as many Russians saw their quality of life deteriorating in November as in September, and five times as many had noted unemployment rising.
   In a poll in October, the Levada Centre found that normally sky-high confidence in the government had gone down from 66 per cent to 59 per cent since September, and Medvedev’s popularity was down from 83 to 76 per cent.
   And just as economic worries rise, President Dmitry Medvedev is pushing a constitutional reform through parliament that he says will boost Russia’s political stability but analysts say is paving the way for Putin’s return.
   Yulia Latynina, a commentator on political and economic affairs, said the financial crisis would now be blamed on Medvedev, who would be forced to resign and leave the path wide open for Putin’s return to the presidency.
   Referring to the recent problems encountered by the authorities in getting state money to ailing banks and companies, she said: ‘They’re not in a condition to control what’s happening to the money. There’s no trust.
   ‘There’s a Soviet economy where you can command. There’s a market economy where you can’t. The hybrid only survives if oil prices are high.’

ETBL Securities and Exchange Ltd, an affiliate of ETBL Holdings Ltd, opened its 2nd branch at Dilkusha in Dhaka on Saturday to facilitate its growing customers, said a press release.
   Mahbubur Rahman, chairman and managing director of the company, inaugurated the branch.
   Rizwan Rahman, director and head of operations, and senior officials of the company, were also present at the ceremony.
   ETBL, a member of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, has been active in the capital market for the past three years. Besides corporate clients, it has an individual client base of over 7,000 small and medium investors.

Rangs Electronics Limited opened a new sales and service centre on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka on Saturday.
   Aktar Hussain, chairman and managing director of Rangs Group, inaugurated the showroom.
   The showroom is specially designed for Sony LCD TV — Bravia, along with other Sony-Rangs products and the company’s current sales offer, Sony-Rangs Eid Utsab Boom Boom, will be available on the outlet, said a press release.
   J Ekram Hussain, deputy managing director of Rangs Electronics Limited, and senior officials of the group were present at the function.

Mercantile Bank Limited signed an agreement with Bangladesh Post Office for distribution of inward foreign remittances recently.
   Dewan Mujibur Rahman, managing director and chief executive officer of MBL, and Mobasherur Rahman, director general of the BPO, signed the agreement.
   Under the agreement, MBL will be able to extend its remittance services at the doorstep of beneficiaries easily, quickly and safely through BPO’s 450 designated outlets across the country.
   MA Shahjahan, DMD, and MA Yousuf Khan, SEVP of Mercantile Bank Limited, Abdur Rashid, additional director general, AKM Rafiqul Islam, director of BPO, were present at the ceremony.

Asian currencies had mixed fortunes against the US dollar this week as markets continued to slump amid increasing worries over the global financial crisis.
   The yen rebounded against the dollar in the past week amid deepening concerns over the US economy ahead of a weekend Group of 20 summit on the global financial crisis.
   The Japanese currency stood at 96.87-90 against the dollar at the end of daytime trading on Friday, up from 97.58-60 against the dollar a week earlier.
   It dipped to the week’s low of 99.30 on Monday following China’s announcement of a four trillion yuan ($586b) economic stimulus package.
   But the yen sprang back to peak at 94.53 on Thursday due partly to renewed worries over the US economy.
   Most dealers predicted that the dollar would stay under pressure in the coming week unless the G20 summit in Washington takes aggressive action on the financial crisis.
   ‘If the only thing countries agree on is the recognition of the crisis, we may see more market turmoil next week,’ Chuo Mitsui Trust Bank chief forex strategist Yosuke Hosokawa said ahead of the meeting.
   The Australian dollar was trading late Friday at 65.61 US cents, down from the previous week’s close of 67.04 US cents but off earlier lows.
   ‘Moves in global equities should continue to drive the AUD next week as the correlation between the two appears strong at present,’ said Patricia Gacis of ANZ Economics and Market Research.
   The New Zealand dollar ended the week at 58.65 US cents, barely changed from 58.68 the previous Friday.
   The NZ dollar sank to 55.10 US cents on Thursday amid the latest bout of global share market weakness, dealers said.
   The yuan closed at 6.8251 to the dollar Friday on the exchange-traded market, compared with Thursday’s close of 6.8316, and a closing price of 6.8251 to the dollar the week before.
   On the over-the-counter market, it ended the day at 6.8242 against the US dollar, up from Thursday’s finish of 6.8300.
   The central bank set the yuan central parity rate at 6.8289 to the dollar Friday, compared with 6.8295 Thursday.
   The People’s Bank of China allows a trading band of 0.5 per cent on either side of the midpoint.
   The US-pegged Hong Kong unit was at 7.751 to the dollar, almost unchanged from 7.750 a week earlier.
   The rupiah ended at 11,500 to the dollar, down from 11,180 the week before.
   The Philippines peso rose to 48.81 to the dollar on Friday afternoon from 48.94 a week earlier
   The dollar was at 1.5148 Singapore dollars from 1.4924 the week before.
   The won closed at 1,399.2 to the dollar Friday, compared with 1,328.8 a week earlier, amid lingering concerns about the global financial crisis.
   The won has been Asia’s worst performing major currency this year, falling from 937 to the US unit on January 2.
   The Taiwan dollar fell 0.78 per cent in the week to Nov 14 to close at 33.079 against the US dollar. The local currency closed at 32.824 a week ago.
   The baht closed Friday at 34.97-99 baht to one dollar compared to last week’s close of 34.96-99.

Transaction
   Peoples Insurance
   Md Karimuddin Varosha, one of the sponsors/directors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 15,000 shares (bonus share) out of his total holdings of 25,000 shares in the block market at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Mercantile Bank
   Bilkis Begum, one of the sponsors/directors of the bank, has reported her intention to sell 12,000 shares out of her total holdings of 1,27,513 shares while Md Shahabuddin Alam, one of the sponsors of the bank, has reported his intention to buy 12,000 shares (in the block market) of the bank at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Dividend
   Olympic Industries
   The board of directors has recommended 16 per cent cash dividend for the year 2007-2008. The AGM of the company will be held on December 28 at 10:00am at the factory premises at Bondar in Narayanganj. Record date will be on December 14.
   
   Fine Foods
   The board of directors has recommended 5 per cent cash dividend and 5 per cent stock dividend for the year 2007-2008. The AGM of the company will be held on December 21 at 11.30am at Shantinagar in Dhaka. Book closure will be on December 1 to 21.s
   
   Kohinoor Chemicals
   The board of directors has recommended 30 per cent cash dividend for the year 2007-2008. The AGM of the company will be held on December 25 at 9:00am at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre at Sher-E-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka. Book closure will be held on December 5 to 25.
   
   Profit
   Orion infusion
   As per audited accounts as on June 30, 2008, the company has reported profit before tax of Tk 3.79 crore as against Tk 1.37 crore as on June 30, 2007. Accumulated loss of the company was Tk 18.37 crore as on June 30, 2008.
   
   Kohinoor Chemicals
   As per audited accounts as on June 30, 2008, the company has reported net profit of Tk 3.17 crore with EPS of Tk 63.45 as against Tk 1.77 crore and Tk 35.48 respectively as on June 30, 2007. Accumulated loss of the company was Tk 13.79 crore as on June 30, 2008. Source: DSE

GP launches special services for Hajj pilgrims
Mobile phone operator Grameenphone has launched a special SMS service package to provide information to the Hajj pilgrims and their families, said a press release. All GP subscribers are eligible for the service package that includes updates on Hajj pilgrims' location status in Makkah and Madina in Saudi Arabia and their health status, Hajj flight information through push-pull and through the subscription-based SMS services, it said. Under the package, a GP subscriber can find out the current location and condition of a particular pilgrim by sending an SMS typing the PILGRIM PASS Number to 2200. GP subscribers will also be able to listen to Hajj-related information by dialing 2200. The release, however, said the pilgrim information is subject to updates by the religious affairs ministry of Bangladesh and the Hajj agents concerned. Hajj pilgrims, who have international credit card, can also avail the international roaming facility on post-paid and pre-paid connections, the release added.
— New Age

Gulf stocks plunge
Stock markets in Gulf states mostly plunged on Sunday as approval by G20 leaders of an action plan to restore global growth failed to counteract panic over the economic meltdown. Investors in Kuwait were spared further losses as the stock exchange remained shut by court order, though they could be in for further punishment on Monday when trading resumes. The Saudi market was the only regional exchange to move into positive territory following the G20 summit in Washington, ending the day with a small gain. The slump in the rest of the region came after leaders of the G20 nations agreed on Saturday on proposals to restore global growth and prevent future financial upheaval, while promising new spending plans and a set of reforms. Analysts have said investors in the Gulf are concerned that the global financial crisis and the slide in oil prices could force governments of the energy-rich region to cut public spending, the main driver of the economy. The Dubai, Muscat and Doha markets were the biggest losers, each shedding more than five per cent.
— AFP