Dhaka stocks witnessed a big fall on Sunday, the first trading session after the announcement of the proposed national budget, as panic driven investors continued to offload shares to protect their funds amid the prolonged downward trend on the market amid the ongoing economic uncertainty in the country, market operators said.
Finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali placed the proposed budget for the 2024-25 financial year at Jatiya Sangsad in the capital Dhaka on June 6.
In the budget, the finance minister proposed imposing the capital gain tax on individual investors if their profits cross Tk 50 lakh.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, shed 65.75 points, or 1.25 per cent, to settle down at 5,171.56 points on the day after gaining 12.95 points in the previous trading session.
The Dhaka bourse witnessed its key index going below 5,200-point mark for the first time in three years. Before Sunday, the bourse posted its lowest on April 12, 2021 at 5,188.27 points.
The DSE witnessed a decrease in investors鈥� activity too on the day and the total turnover on the bourse dived to Tk聽357.90 crore, a reduce by almost Tk聽200 crore than the previous session.
The total turnover on the DSE on the previous session was Tk聽542.60 crore.
Market operators said that on Sunday, the stock market experienced a downward trend throughout the whole session, ultimately ending in the red zone.
Saiful Islam, president of the DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh, told 抖阴精品 that investors were not satisfied with the proposed budget as it had neglected the capital market.
鈥楾hough general investors will not suffer for the capital gain tax, the time to impose it was wrong as the market have been on a bearish trend for a prolonged time,鈥� he said.
鈥楥onfusing remarks regarding the regulatory authority of the secondary market by the DSE and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission put a negative impact on the investors,鈥� he added.
Market operators attributed the current volatile situation of the market to mounting economic worries, particularly the continued decline in the country鈥檚 foreign exchange reserves, which had dampened investor sentiment.
Over the past 16 weeks, the market had advanced in just three.
Furthermore, investors are adopting a cautious approach and closely monitoring the market trend as Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, is approaching, market operators said.
Of the 392 issues traded on the day, 33 advanced, 340 declined and 19 remained unchanged.
The DSE Shariah index decreased by 15.93 points, or 1.40 per cent, to close at 1,120.82 points on Sunday.
The DS30 index lost 22.52 points or 1.21 per cent, to finish at 1,835.45 points.
On the sectoral front, food issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by the pharmaceutical and textile shares.
EBL Securities in its daily commentary said, 鈥楽ellers dominated the session as investors preferred to remain watchful and monitor the market momentum following the national budget declaration.鈥�
Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream topped the turnover chart on the day with its shares worth Tk聽15.91 crore changing hands.
Fortune Shoes, Asiatic Laboratories, Unilever Consumer Care, Central Pharmaceuticals, eGeneration, Square Pharmaceuticals, Rupali Life Insurance, Orion Pharma and British American Tobacco Bangladesh聽were the other turnover leaders.
