The number of investors who emptied their beneficiary owner鈥檚 accounts of shares has increased in recent months amid the ongoing downbeat trend on the market and the economic uncertainty in the country.
A total of 62,278 investors emptied the BO accounts of balance in the past three months from March 12 to Tuesday.
On March 12, the key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX was above 6,000-point mark for the last time.
The number of BO accounts with zero share balance on March 12 was 3,18,105, which increased to 3,80,383 till Tuesday, according to Central Depository Bangladesh Limited data.
The number of total BO accounts on March 12 was 17,86,545, and on May 21 the number of BO accounts increased by 4,143 accounts and stood at 17,90,688.
Opening a BO account with the CDBL through a depository participant, which is usually a stockbroker or a merchant bank, is a must for trading shares at the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges.
According to market operators, the persistent drop in share prices on stock exchanges led to investor frustration, panic and losses, intensifying concerns about the capital market.
With the continued fall in share prices, the Dhaka bourse lost a total of Tk聽47,374.47 crore in market capitalisation in the past three months.
The market value of DSE stood at Tk 7,36,747.77 on March 12, and decreased to Tk聽6,89,373.30 crore till Tuesday.
Ashiqur Rahman, managing director at MIDWAY Securities, told 抖阴精品 that the capital market in the country was a liquid market, from where investors could pull up their money in an instant, or invest it.
He said that there were two kinds of investors in the market, one that invests in good shares with long-term planning, the other that transacts daily.
鈥楢fter the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission imposed floor price restriction in 2022, almost 70 per cent of transactions stopped on the market. In the meantime, prices of junk scrips went up, and good performing companies share prices fell. Investors were not being able to move from the market, which created frustrations among them,鈥� he said.
On January 18, the stock market regulatory body withdrew the floor price restrictions.
鈥楢fter the removal of floor price this year, the BSEC should have let the market move at its own pace. Instead, they took another irrational decision and imposed the 3-per cent circuit breaker. The difference between floor price restriction and the circuit breaker is only that 3 per cent,鈥� Ashiqur added.
The BSEC on April 24 restricted share price fall at maximum 3 per cent for all companies but those which are still under floor price restriction.
鈥楾he investors saw the rise of junk stocks鈥� share prices, and no noticeable steps from the regulators against it. They could not protect their funds by selling shares, which lowered their trust in the market and caused the prolonged bearish vibe,鈥� he said.
Market operators pointed out several other things for the downward trend 鈥� lack of confidence among investors and rising economic worries in the country.
Market operators said that investors were also reacting to news about the National Board of Revenue imposing capital gains tax, which raised concerns.
The NBR was considering removing tax waivers, including those related to capital gains for individual investors in the stock market.
The country鈥檚 foreign exchange reserves dropped to $13.76 billion with gross reserves at $18.26 billion on May 12, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
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.
Since March 12 of this year, the Dhaka bourse lost a total of 635.77 points, and stood at 5,371.10 points on Tuesday.