Dhaka stock gained marginally last week, the first week after the finance minister placed before parliament the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2014-15, amid volatile trading as investors were sceptical whether the government would withdrew the proposed gain tax on individual investors or approve it. The key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 4,408.80 points, adding 0.28 per cent or 12.26 points after it had declined to 4,396.54 points in the previous week.
Finance minister AMA Muhith on June 5 placed the budget before parliament.
The proposed finance bill for the financial year 2014-2015 imposed 3-5 per cent gain tax on individual investors.
DSEX on Sunday, the first trading session after the budget, declined by 50 per cent as investors sold shares in huge numbers.
Following the budget reaction on the capital market, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission, Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges started communicating with the finance minister to make him understand about the affect of newly-imposed gain tax on the market and to scrap it.
The capital market regulator on June 10 and officials of the stock exchanges on June 12 met Muhith to request him not to take any capital market unfriendly budgetary measures.
The finance minister, however, said the government would make decision regarding the gain tax issue before the approval of the proposed budget by the end of this month.
Market operators said that investors after the imposition of tax became panicky and sold shares in huge numbers.
Investors, however, after the regulatory move to request the government to scrap the newly imposed tax burden from capital market investors reduced sales of shares, they said.
But, the majority of the investors remained sceptical as no concrete decision came from the government on newly-imposed tax issue, operators said.
Daily average turnover of the bourse increased to Tk 419.01 crore from Tk 405.76 crore in the previous week.
DS30, the blue-chip index of the bourse, closed at 1,638.08 points, adding 0.93 per cent or 15.13 points in the week.
The Shariah index of DSE, DSES, increased by 1.03 per cent, or 10.41 points, to finish at 1,018.24 points last week.
Of the 302 shares and mutual funds traded, 147 advanced, 148 declined and seven remained unchanged.
Lafarge Surma Cement traded the most in the week and declined significantly after the company declared its maiden dividend for shareholders after enlistment with the stock exchanges in 2003.
The share prices of the company declined by 8.44 per cent, with its shares worth Tk 208 crore changing hands.
Grameenphone, BSRM Steels, Square Pharma, MJL Bangladesh, Eastern Housing, Generation Next Fashions, Meghna Petroleum, GPH Ispat and Appollo Ispat Complex were among the other turnover leaders.
Al-Haj Textile gained the most in the week with a 14.68-per cent increase in its share price.
Wata Chemicals declined the most last week shedding 19.95 per cent after share prices of the company skyrocketed to Tk 487 on June 2 which were traded at Tk 49.50 on May 28.
Meanwhile, Wata Chemicals declared 30 per cent stock dividends for its shareholders.
-With New Age input
