KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): The share price of Bursa Malaysia continued its downtrend on the second day (Nov 2) of trading after the tabling of the national Budget 2022. 

On Monday (Nov 1), the counter had closed at RM7.09 as it managed to recoup some lost ground following its 9.3% or 70 sen plummet to an intraday low of RM6.81.

However, in early trade on Tuesday, it was among the top losers as it slipped as much as 2.12% or 15 sen to RM6.94.

At 10.59am, the counter pared some losses at RM6.96, still down 1.83% or 13 sen, with 2.91 million shares traded.

Under Budget 2022, which was tabled last Friday (Oct 29), it was proposed that the stamp duty rate of contract notes is slated to be raised from 0.1% to 0.15% from Jan 1, 2022, with the cap of RM200 per contract removed.

Additionally, it was also proposed that Cukai Makmur will be implemented, whereby a 24% income tax will be imposed on the first RM100 million portion of companies’ annual taxable income, while the excess will be subjected to a 33% income tax.

Analysts on Monday had said the two proposals are likely to have a negative impact on Bursa’s earnings for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2022 (FY22).

They reasoned that the increased stamp duty rate could reduce equities’ average daily trading volume (ADTV) as trading costs for investors rise.

Meanwhile, the introduction of the one-off special tax under Cukai Makmur in 2022 could increase tax expenses for Bursa in FY22.

However, it was noted that the service tax exemption for brokerage services also announced in Budget 2022 will partially offset the higher stamp duty rate. 

See more Budget 2022 highlights here.