Country’s premier bourse the Dhaka Stock Exchange was the worst performing stock market last year in comparison with the major stock markets across the globe.
According to the latest DSE data, the bourse’s benchmark general index, DGEN, lost 20.26 per cent till November 2012, whereas other Asian and global indices gained during the period.
The DGEN, however, gained 62 points in December, but it lost a total 1,038 points or 19.74 per cent in 2012, stretching a bear run to the second year, according to New Age calculation.
In Asia, Pakistan’s Karachi 100 was the best performing index during the period with a gain of 36.50 per cent while India’s BSE 30 advanced by 22.60 per cent during the same period of time.
Thailand’s SET was the second best, advancing by 36.10 per cent during the period when Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted gained 13.30 per cent, Malaysia’s KLSE Composite rose by 12 per cent and Indonesia’s Jakarta Comp increased by 6.90 per cent.
Among the Asian giants, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 5.10 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced by 22.30 per cent and Singapore’s Straits Times gained 26.10 per cent.
The DSE data also showed among the European giants, Germany’s DAX gained 29.70 per cent in 11 months (till November) of 2012 and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 10.70 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of the USA stock market increased by 8.40 per cent during the period, the DSE data showed.
Officials of the DSE said they were yet to prepare year-end global comparison.
They, however, said that the DGEN’s marginal gain in December would have no impact on the global comparison as the other major markets gained in the period.
The DGEN had risen to as high as 8,918.51 points on December 5, 2010 with a record turnover of Tk 3,249.57 crore before it crashed.
The downtrend continues till now.
In 2011, the DGEN had lost 3,032 points since the market crash in late 2010.
Seventeen new securities — sixteen equity stocks and one mutual fund — raised Tk 1,186 crore from the country’s capital market through initial public offerings in 2012 but failed to perform as per the expectations of the investors.
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission in November, 2011 announced a 21-point market stimulus package in line with the instruction of prime minister Sheikh Hasina to bring back normalcy to the market.
The package was provided to raise liquidity supply to the market by offering institutional investors, especially banks, some incentives.
Majority of the steps announced in the stimulus package had been implemented on paper and so failed to fetch the investors expected return, market operators said.
They said the government’s failure in dealing the Padma Bridge financing issue dominated the market sentiment throughout the year.
They also said that the BSEC’s move to impose a mandatory 2 per cent shareholding on listed company directors and consequent legal battle also hurt the investors.
A decreased participation of the financial institutions in the market amid a liquidity shortage also depressed the general investors, they added.