Shares opened the week lower as most of the scrips on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell today, despite a cut in the corporate tax rate for listed companies.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the premier bourse of Bangladesh, shed 32 points, or 0.49 per cent to 6,448 at 12:30 pm.

Turnover, an important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 330 crore.

Of the traded issues, 69 advanced and 272 declined while 36 securities remained unchanged.

Meghna Insurance topped the gainers' list, rising 10 per cent, followed by CAPM IBBL Islamic Mutual Fund, CAPM BDBL Mutual Fund 01, Shinepukur Ceramics, and Vanguard AML Rupali Bank Balanced Fund.

The government has proposed a 2.5 percentage point cut in corporate tax rates for the listed companies in the national budget unveiled for the next fiscal year in a bid to develop the stock market and attract investments.

This brings down the corporate tax rate to 20 per cent from 22.5 per cent for the publicly-traded firms that have issued shares worth more than 10 per cent of their paid-up capital through initial public offerings.

For the listed companies that have offloaded equities worth 10 per cent or fewer, the rate has been kept unchanged at 22.5 per cent.