The stock market regulator in a letter to the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges asked the bourses to place the shares of the five companies under public market with effect from today.

Earlier on Sunday, the SEC directed the bourses to place Brac Bank Ltd, Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco) Ltd, Summit Power Ltd and Eastern Cables Ltd under the spot market, without money adjustment facility, instead of public market from Monday.

"The directive was issued on a certain situation and it was a temporary measure, which cannot remain effective for a long time," said Farhad Ahmed, executive director (Supervision and Regulation of Markets Intermediaries Department) of SEC.

Meanwhile, share price indices on the bourses fell sharply yesterday due mainly to the regulator's move that placed the five large companies shares to trade under spot market, without money adjustment facility.

The DSE General Index yesterday lost 39.03 points, or 2.08 percent, to close at 1832.45 points while the CSE Selective Categories Index went down by 53.03 points, or 1.91 percent, finishing at 2713.70 points.

The DSE All Share Price Index also declined by 29.39 points, or 1.93 percent, ending the day at 1491.23 points while the CSE All Share Price Index dropped by 68.09 points, or 1.62 percent, to finish at 4127.43 percent.

The turnover on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), however, rose slightly while the turnover on Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) fell very marginally. The total turnover on the DSE was Tk86.59 crore and on the CSE was Tk15.16 crore.

Of the 205 issues traded on the DSE, 54 advanced, 136 declined and 15 remained unchanged, while of the 95 issues traded on the CSE, 23 gained, 65 declined and seven remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, Prime Islami Life Insurance Ltd made debut on the bourses yesterday.

Closing at Tk453.50, the prices of the company's share rose as high as Tk495 and as low as Tk400 on the DSE. On the CSE, ending the day at Tk451.25, Prime Islami share rose as high as Tk500 and as low as Tk450.

Earlier, the insurance company raised Tk4.5 crore from the public through floating 4.5 lakh shares of Tk100 each during the initial public offering period from November 26 to 30 last year.

With the inclusion of Prime Islami, the number of insurance companies listed on the DSE and CSE stood at 32 and 26 respectively.