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Stocks ended marginally lower on Sunday, the first session after unveiling the national budget, as investors reacted mixed to the proposed budget.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal placed a record Tk 6.03 trillion national budget for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-2022 before Parliament on Thursday.
The finance minister has proposed to cut the corporate tax rate for the listed firms by 2.5 percentage points to 22.5 per cent for the upcoming fiscal year while the ongoing facility to invest undisclosed money in the capital market is no more.
Many investors were cautiously analysing the proposed budget before making any further investment decisions, said a leading merchant banker.
DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, went down by 15.13 points, or 0.25 per cent, to close at 6,038, after gaining 63 points in the past three straight sessions.
Market experts said the prime index stayed above the ‘psychological’ threshold of 6,000-mark as investors put fresh funds on selective stocks which will get special facilities in the proposed budget.
Two other indices, however, ended higher with the DSE 30 Index, comprising blue chips, advanced 18.96 points to finish at 2,222 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) rose 6.13 points to close at 1,299.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, jumped to Tk 26.69 billion on the country’s premier bourse, which was 22 per cent higher than the previous day’s mark of Tk 21.82 billion.
It was also the highest turnover value in more than 10 years since December 6, 2010, when turnover was recorded at Tk 27.10 billion.
The institutional investors and high net worth individual investors were putting fresh funds on sector-specific stocks, said a stockbroker.
However, he said, a section of investors booked some quick gain on banking, general insurance, mutual fund and telecom sector stocks.
Among the major sectors, general insurance saw the biggest hit, losing 4.30 per cent, snapping the recent rally, followed by banking with 3.0 per cent, telecom 1.80 per cent, mutual fund 0.90 per cent and financial institutions 0.10 per cent.
On the other hand, engineering, miscellaneous, cement, textile and pharma sectors posted gained of 3.90 per cent, 3.20 per cent, 2.50 per cent, 2.10 per cent and 0.60 per cent respectively.
Losers took a modest lead over the gainers, as out of 366 issues traded, 201 declined, 145 advanced and 20 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Beximco - the flagship company of Beximco Group- continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 2.94 billion changing hands, followed by IFAD Autos (Tk 612 million), Fortune Shoes (Tk 593 million), Rupali Insurance (Tk 505 million) and Robi (Tk 430 million).
Fortune Shoes was the day’s top gainer, posting a 10 per cent gain while NCC Bank was the worst loser, losing 16.11 per cent following its price adjustment after the record date.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed marginally lower with the CSE All-Share Price Index – CASPI –losing 36 points to settle at 17,507 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX shedding 23 points to close at 10,550.
Of the issues traded, 143 declined, 130 advanced and 19 issues remained unchanged on the CSE.
The port city’s bourse traded 39.79 million shares and mutual fund units with a turnover value worth about Tk 1.60 billion.