Dhaka stocks dropped for the seventh consecutive session on Tuesday to hit a fresh three-year low after the previous session despite showing optimism in the early hours of the trading session, as investors continued offloading shares in the later hours amid the downward market trend and the ongoing economic uncertainty, market operators said.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, decreased by 22.55 points, or 0.41 per cent, to close at 5,371.10 points on the day after losing 37.62 points in the previous trading session.
The key index posted fresh low on Tuesday after April 19, 2021, when it was at 5,349.91 points.
The key index lost a total of 325.61 points in the past five sessions.
With increased selling activity of the investors, the total turnover on the DSE rose to Tk聽591.62 crore on the day, while it was Tk聽561.21 crore in the previous trading session.
The Dhaka bourse lost a total of Tk 21,644.83 crore in its market capitalisation in the past seven sessions.
The total market capitalisation of the DSE on Tuesday was at Tk 6,89,373.30 crore, while it stood at Tk聽7,11,018.13 crore on May 12, the day before the market started the current losing trend.
Market operators said that the market was continuously falling amid forced-selling, investors reacting to news of the National Board of Revenue鈥檚 move on imposing capital gain tax on investors and rising economic worries in the country.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country fell to $13.76 billion, with the gross reserves dropping to $18.26 billion on May 12, marking a 10-year low, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
According to the Bangladesh Bank data, the current inflation rate in the country is at 9.74 per cent.
Media reports said that the NBR was considering phasing out tax waivers from different sectors, including those on capital gains of individual investors in the capital market.
DSE Brokerage Association of Bangladesh president Saiful Islam told 抖阴精品 on Monday that the news of the NBR鈥檚 possible imposing of capital gain tax might have somewhat affected individual investors.
Margin-selling or forced-selling refers to聽a number of situations where an individual鈥檚 assets are required to be sold.
Market operators said that the Bangladesh Bank鈥檚 decision on increasing repo rates, which might lead to interest rate hikes on the money market, also impacted the capital market negatively, as investors might shift funds to banks.
The devaluation of the taka against the US dollar might add to the depressed state of the market, they said.
In the past 13 weeks, the market moved forward in only three weeks.
Market operators also said that multiple other factors were working behind the bearish trend of stocks, such as lack of investor confidence amid economic woes in the country and global geopolitical tensions, liquidity crisis in banks and sudden change of policies.
Of the 393 issues traded on the day, 102 advanced, 235 declined and 56 remained unchanged.
The DSE Shariah index decreased by 6.19 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close at 1,174.55 points on Tuesday.
The DS30 index lost 8.95 points, or 0.46 per cent, to finish at 1,929.92 points.
On the sectoral front, pharmaceutical issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by food and textile sector.
EBL Securities in its daily commentary said that despite a positive start with the benchmark index surging over 90 points in the first hour of trading following some recent regulatory moves, the morning optimism failed to sustain itself for long as risk averse investors continued their selling frenzy due to confidence crisis and subdued market sentiment.
Orion Pharma topped the turnover chart on the day with its shares worth Tk聽43.67 crore changing hands.
Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, Asiatic Laboratories, Best Holdings, Beach Hatchery, eGeneration, Orion Infusion, ICB AMCL Sonali Bank Limited 1st Mutual Fund, Alif Industries and Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa were the other turnover leaders.
