The premier bourse failed to unearth evidence of wrongdoing in a suspicious price spike of Eastern Housing Ltd (EHL) shares, but the stockmarket regulator will now start to dig.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formed a two-member committee to probe the unusual price rise of EHL shares, an SEC official said yesterday.
The market watchdog also asked the probe body, led by SEC Director Mohammad Rezaul Karim, to submit the investigation report to the commission by October. Mohammad Rakibur Rahman, assistant director of the SEC, is also on the committee.
An SEC official said the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) investigated the EHL issue only to see whether bourse rules were violated, and found no major irregularities.
"Now the SEC body will re-examine the DSE's investigation report and also see whether any securities rules were violated," the official said.
Earlier last month the DSE investigated the EHL price spike, following instructions from the market regulator.
EHL shares almost trebled in 90 days, from Tk 600 to Tk 1,700. The DSE also suspended trading of EHL in the last week of August, and submitted a report to the SEC on August 31.
The company's shares rose on the trading floor yesterday, too. EHL traded between Tk 1,630 and Tk 1,799 -- before closing at Tk 1,700 per share on the DSE.
EHL was listed on the DSE in 1994 under the services and real estate segment.
The Dhaka stocks however closed nearly flat with choppy trading. The benchmark index DSE General index rose just 9 points, or 0.13 percent to 6,805.
Telecom, engineering and insurance pushed the market up slightly, while banking, ceramics and mutual funds were in negative territory.
Advancers beat losers 169 to 81, with seven securities unchanged, while the prime bourse, traded more than 5.24 crore shares and mutual fund units with a total value of Tk 1,131 crore.
Aftab Automobiles, a vehicle assembler and small parts manufacturer, topped turnover leaders, with 12.08 lakh shares worth Tk 64.96 crore traded on the floor.
Chittagong stocks gained slightly, with the CSE Selective Categories Index increasing 25 points, or 0.19 percent to 12,934.
The Chittagong stock exchange traded more than 72.74 lakh shares and mutual fund units with a value of Tk 101.20 crore.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net
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