Dhaka stocks witnessed fall for the third consecutive session on Tuesday with its key index hitting its lowest in 42 months, as anxious investors continued selling shares to prevent further erosion in their portfolios amid the prolonged bearish vibe on the market, market operators said.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, shed 167.29 points in the past three trading sessions after the placing of the proposed budget for the 2024-25 financial year by finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in parliament on June 6.
The key index decreased by 35.87 points or 0.70 per cent on Tuesday, to settle at 5,070.01 points on the day after losing 65.67 points in the previous trading session.
The DSE on Tuesday posted its lowest after December 9, 2020, when it was at 5,069.88 points.
With the heightened activity of the sellers on the day, the total turnover on the bourse increased to Tk听431.64 crore, compared with that of Tk听318.78 crore in the previous session.
Market operators said that investors were dissatisfied with the capital market-related measures taken in the proposed budget.
In the budget, the finance minister proposed imposing the capital gain tax on individual investors if their profits cross Tk听50 lakh.
Furthermore, investors are withdrawing funds from the market before Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, market operators said.
Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated in the country on June 17.
Market operators attributed the current bearish vibe of the market to mounting economic worries, particularly the continued decline in the country鈥檚 foreign exchange reserves.
Over the past 16 weeks, the market had advanced in just three.
Of the 394 issues traded on the day, 51 advanced, 308 declined and 35 remained unchanged.
The DSE Shariah index decreased by 9.87 points, or 0.89 per cent, to close at 1,093.78 points on Tuesday.
The DS30 index lost 8.72 points or 0.48 per cent, to finish at 1,803.05 points.
On the sectoral front, pharmaceutical issues exerted the highest turnover, followed by the food and textile shares.
EBL Securities in its daily commentary said, 鈥楾he indices observed a downward trend throughout the session as sellers continued to dominate the market, being wary of the market鈥檚 momentum that caused the majority of scrips to extend their prolonged correction mood.鈥�
鈥楳oreover, some investors also chose to sell off a portion of their holdings in order to free up funds to participate in the ongoing IPO bonanza amidst the subdued market trend,鈥� it added.
Beacon Pharmaceuticals topped the turnover chart on the day with its shares worth Tk听72.35 crore changing hands.
Asiatic Laboratories, Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company, Square Pharmaceuticals, BRAC Bank, Unilever Consumer Care, Central Pharmaceuticals and Orion Pharma were the other turnover leaders.
听
