Effective Sunday, there will be no floor price restriction on listed securities, with the exception of 35 large-cap stocks as the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has decided to lift the floor price on stocks after 18 months since its imposition.

In an order issued on Thursday, the BSEC mandated the immediate withdrawal of the floor price restriction.

The floor price represents the lowest allowable trading price for a stock.

With this change, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) will see 379 stocks, mutual funds, corporate bonds, and debentures listed without the previous floor price restrictions.

These securities will now be subject to the regular circuit-breaker mechanism, allowing their prices to fluctuate by up to 10% in either direction on a daily basis. Typically, the narrower the circuit breaker the higher the tick price.

This decision follows assurances made by the BSEC to stock market intermediaries in the first week of this month, where the regulator committed to gradually withdrawing the floor price restriction after the national election.

However, floor price will still be applicable to the shares of Anwar Galvanizing, Baraka Power, British American Tobacco, Beximco Ltd, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, BSRM Ltd, BSRM Steels, Confidence Cement, DBH Finance, Doreen Power, Envoy Textile, Grameenphone, HR Textile, IDLC Finance, Index Agro, Islami Bank, KDS Accessories, Khulna Power, Kattali Textile, Malek Spinning, Meghna Petroleum, National Housing Finance, National Polymer, Orion Pharma, Padma Oil, Renata, Robi Axiata, Saiham Cotton, Shasha Denim, Sonali Paper, Sonar Bangla Insurance, Shinepukur Ceramics, Shahjibazar Power, Summit Power, and United Power.

In July 2021, amidst global economic uncertainties, the BSEC implemented the floor price restriction, setting the floor price for every stock as the average of the closing prices on 18 July 2021, and the preceding four days.

However, in December 2022, the BSEC lifted the floor price for 169 companies to inject vibrancy into the market. In March 2023, the regulator reintroduced the floor price for those 169 companies, placing all stocks back under the floor price curbs.