It was an extraordinary day at the twin bourses yesterday. On the day that new curtailed trading hours were supposed to take effect, trading did not begin on the usual start time of 10:30am. In the absence of any clear message from the stock market regulator, the delay left the already nervy investors on tenterhooks. Trading eventually began at the Chittagong bourse at 1pm and shut 30 minutes later. The window was long enough for investors to make 800 trades and bring CSCX, the key index of the Chattogram Stock Exchange, 105 points lower at 6,641. Over in Dhaka, trade did not begin until 2pm and went on for 30 minutes. But, stock investors dived in, sending DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, soaring 371 points, or 10.29 per cent — which is the single-day highest jump. Later, it was learnt that the delayed start was due to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) recomputed the floor price of stocks, compelled by the recent slide of the bourses on fears of the coronavirus. From now onward, the starting point of the two bourses yesterday would be the floor prices of all stocks. The existing circuit breaker, which is a rise or decline of 10 per cent, would stay on. Circuit breakers are regulatory measures to temporarily halt in trading on an exchange when prices hit predefined levels to curb panic-selling or buying. The BSEC move comes following directions from the government in the interest of investors and for the development of securities market, said the stock market regulator. It will remain in force until further notice. This is unprecedented, not just for Bangladesh but for anywhere in the world, said a merchant banker requesting anonymity. “Could shutting down the exchanges stop the market’s rot?” No country in the world has seen any improvement because of price setting and shutting down stock exchanges, he said, while citing the case in the Philippines. The Philippine Stock Exchange plunged as much as 24 per cent in Manila yesterday, bringing this month’s loss to about 40 per cent, the worst performer in Asia. The havoc came after an unusual two-day shutdown of the bourse. “We did not know why the bourses’ trading was delayed, so we were panicked,” said Rashid Hasan, a retail investor. To make matters worse, DSE did not begin trading even after CSE had. “So, it was total chaos,” he added. A DSE high official said they were ordered to include a new circuit breaker for every stock, which took time and delayed the start of trading. Meanwhile, from March 22 trading will take place between 10:30am and 1:30pm instead of the regular trading hours from 10:30am to 2:30pm, and will continue until further notice.
