After a strong rally of share prices on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). which saw the All Share Price Index shooting up to over 647 points In the morning session, the market barometer again slid back to 623 points In the last trading ses-

sion of the week yesterday.

In the process, the index gained 14 points yesterday from the previous day s 607.19. The market capitalisation reached Tk 5899.59 crore from previous trading day’s Tk 5749.05 crore.

Thursday's trading began at

9:53 am and the price Index shot up to 633.5 points within an hour.

The market operators attributed the rise to massive retail buying resulting from the speculation of the general investors that good times have re-

turned to the bourse. The price index, after a brief 20-mlnUte correction, made another giant leap to reach the day's highest of 647 points at 12.15pm.

In the afternoon session, the index shed 26 points due to massive selling pressure and it later came down to 621 points. The index, however, marked a two-point gain during the last half-an-hour post-closing session.

Market sources said that some foreign funds entered the market and were mostly confined to buying shares of mutual funds and a few blue chip companies.

These foreign funds pushed the price of one mutual fund shares to Its highest of Tk 1.19 from the previous day's closing rate Tk 1.05." one market operator said. The price of the mutual fund finally ended at Tk 110.

Capital market analysts now apprehend continuation of yesterday afternoon's price correction. "In fact, tomorrow's trading will be a very crucial one as It will determine next week's market trend." said one analyst.

He however ruled out chances of major falls due to the presence of the institutional players tn the market.

“If the index tends to nosedive. then these fund managers will enter the market and there will again be a buying spree." he said.