Dhaka stocks witnessed a decline in the past week, the fourth week in a row, as investors remained cautious and chose to observe the market trend before the declaration of the national budget and Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims.
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.
Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated in the country on June 17.
DSEX, the main index of the DSE, dropped by 14.64 points, or 0.28 per cent, in the past week to finish at 5,237.32 points after a 60.44-point fall in the week before.
In the last 16 weeks, the market went up in only three weeks and fell in the other 13 weeks, including the past four weeks.
The weekly turnover on the Dhaka bourse witnessed a rise, by 15.75 per cent to Tk聽2,258.02 crore in the past week compared with that of Tk聽1,950.74 crore in the previous week.
Market operators said that growing economic worries, such as the ongoing drop in the country鈥檚 foreign exchange reserves, negatively impacted investors.
Foreign investments in the country鈥檚 capital market halved over the past two years, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
The central bank reported that total foreign investments in the capital market were $1,084.63 million at the end of 2023 compared with those of $1,925.10 million at the end of December 2021.
The National Board of Revenue鈥檚 move to impose capital gain tax on individual investors further contributed to the negative vibe in the past few weeks, market operators said.
In the budget, the finance minister proposed imposing the capital gain tax on individual investors if their profits cross Tk聽50 lakh.
Market operators said that investor confidence was shaken by the Bangladesh Bank鈥檚 decision to raise repo rates, which could lead to higher interest rates, as investors might move their money to banks. The devaluation of the taka against the US dollar also worsened the market鈥檚 condition, they said. Out of the 393 issues traded in the past week, 167 advanced, 204 declined and 22 remained unchanged in the past week.
Investors were mostly active in pharmaceutical scrips, followed by textile and food shares.
EBL Securities in its weekly market commentary said, 鈥業nvestors remained watchful of the market鈥檚 trend due to concerns surrounding the national budget declaration, although a portion of investors sought to take positions in particular sector-specific scrips with quick gain potential that had undergone significant corrections.鈥�
The DSE Shariah index decreased by 6.94 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 1,136.76 points in the past week.
The DS30 index lost 16.86 points, or 0.90 per cent, to finish at 1,857.98 points.
Rupali Life Insurance topped the average weekly turnover chart with shares worth Tk聽24.44 crore daily changing hands.
Beach Hatchery, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Meghna Petroleum, Taufika Foods and Lovello Ice-cream, Square Pharmaceuticals, Asiatic Laboratories, Alif Industries, Fortune Shoes and eGeneration were the other turnover leaders.