Briefing 22-05-2022

Foreign stake in small-cap cos drops
Foreign stakes in many small-cap listed companies declined significantly in last 10 months as the foreigners offloaded their shares held in those companies. The foreign stakes in large-cap companies, however, declined marginally during the period. The companies which saw significant decline in foreign stakes are ML Dyeing, aamra networks, VFS Thread Dyeing, Queen South Textile Mills and Shepherd Industries. Page 9
Labor will form new govt in Australia
Labor will form the next government in Australia after the Liberal-National coalition has failed to win enough seats. But it is still not clear whether it will be a majority leadership or in coalition with independents and other parties. Anthony Albanese will be the country's new prime minister overseeing the first Labor government in almost a decade. Page 14
BD likely to host Asia Cup
Asia Cup-2022 is likely to be shifted to Bangladesh as Sri Lanka is currently facing financial crisis, report agencies. It must be noted that months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines have caused widespread suffering across the South Asian island nation. Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is considering Bangladesh as an alternative venue to host the Asian event which was last held in 2018 in Dubai. Page 13
Pulse prices rise with soaring dollar
With the cooking oil market still to go off the boil, pulse prices are on the rise and some varieties have vanished from the shelves in some areas as the US dollar soaring against the taka amid the Ukraine-Russia war has hurt imports. The prices of flour, for which Bangladesh depends on the imports of wheat, are also rising. Page 16