An investor breaks down in tears as he shows his share-portfolio at a demonstration, which was organised in protest at the unabated fall in share prices, in front of the DSE building at Motijheel in the capital on Thursday. — New Age photo

Turnover at Dhaka Stock Exchange dipped a fresh low in three-and-a-half year on Thursday to Tk 118.54 crore amid rowdy protests by investors as market regulators legal battle was yet to settle.
On Wednesday DSE turnover dropped to a record low to Tk 122.89 crore which was lowest since Tk 109.03 crore on December 17, 2008.
The DSE turnover which hit a record high of Tk 3,249.57 crore on December 5, 2010, came down to around Tk 200 crore last week after repeated crash of the market in last one and a half years.
Agitated investors took to the streets for the fifth day protesting the unabated fall of share prices and demanded immediate intervention of the prime minister to stabilise the market.
DGEN, the benchmark general index of DSE, inched up by 0.10 per cent, or 4.66 points, to close at 4,300.16 points, breaking a six-day losing streak.
In previous six days, the DGEN lost around 400 points as investors’ uncertainty deepened over legal battle worries.
The market remained volatile for last two months over the legal battle between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the listed company directors on mandatory 2 per cent shareholding rule for directors.
Although the High Court discharged three writ petitions that challenged the mandatory shareholding rule, investors remained confused as the SEC was yet to announce its next move about ensuring compliance of the rule.
But five more writ petitions were filed challenging the SEC’s jurisdiction to issue such rule which continued to haunt the market.
Investors on Thursday blasted the listed company directors for making the market volatile through repeated writ petitions.
‘The government also seems to be favoring them as the second spell of writ petitions was completely unnecessary and intended to hurt the market,’ said one investor.
The HC, however, after Thursday trading hours, discharged all the writ petitions upholding the SEC’s special power under the law.
Of the 262 issues traded on the day, 163 advanced, 79 declined and 20 remained unchanged.
All sectors witnessed slight gain on Thursday, power gained 0.52 per cent, telecommunication 0.46 per cent, non-bank financial institutions gained 0.34 per cent and pharmaceuticals 0.26 per cent.