Stocks down at open despite BSEC’s minimum shareholding ultimatum

The indices of the country's two main bourses have started to lose points as the trading session began today, regardless of the ultimatum to hold minimum shares for listed companies' directors by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).

Earlier, the securities regulator issued a letter to sixty one directors of twenty-two listed companies, who failed to maintain the mandatory rule of holding a minimum two percent of shareholding of their companies' paid-up capital, as per the securities laws.

BSEC issued a 45 working days ultimatum to ensure shareholding rules for the directors in order to continue their directorships.

The letter also warned that BSEC would remove them from the related company's board if they failed to comply with the law.

DSEX, the prime index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), declined 1.37 points – or 0.03 percent - to reach at 3,980 till 11:30 am.

Moreover, the Shariah-based DSES index has lost 0.22 points to settle at 920 and the blue-chip index DS30 dropped by 1.96 points to stand at 1,334.

Turnover on the DSE trading floor has jumped by 63 percent to Tk46.81 crore in the first session.

Out of the 239 issues traded during the same time frame, only 39 company's share prices advanced, 35 declined, and 165 remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, the benchmark index CASPI at the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) has lost 8.10 points to close at 11,297.