Stocks posted marginal gain on Wednesday amid cautious trading, as investor sentiment still remained subdued.
Market analysts said most investors maintained cautious stance ahead of earnings and dividend declarations.
The ongoing liquidity crunch, move to liquidate People's Leasing and Financial services (PLFS), penalty tax on listed companies, gas price hike and the GP issue continued to haunt investor sentiment, said an analyst.
He noted that a section of investors continued selling shares following PLFS liquidation move, as they feared some other companies in the financial sector might face the same fate due to their weak business performance.
Meanwhile, a group of retail investors continued to stage demonstration in front of the DSE building on Wednesday in protest against the inaction on the part of the authorities concerned to improve market performance.
Retail investors, under the banner of 'Bangladesh Pujibazar Biniogkari Oikya Parishad,' chanted slogans, demanding steps to restore normalcy in the market.
The investors demanded immediate resignation of the chairman of the securities regulator for his failure to bring back normalcy in the market.
On the day, the market opened higher, rising 18 points, but slipped into red in the mid-session before recovering some points in the last hour trade.
At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 8.68 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 5,133.
Two other indices also edged up. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 0.54 points to close at 1,830 and the DSE Shariah Index gained 1.59 points to settle at 1,176.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 3.09 billion, which was 14 per cent higher than the previous day's turnover of Tk 2.71 billion.
According to the EBL Securities, some investors showed their appetite for mutual funds as new rules require the mutual funds to disburse only cash dividend. All mutual funds closed green, except one, and the sector posted 4.20 per cent gain.
The stockbroker noted that the investors exerted buying pressure on sector-specific stocks, especially on banking, power and mutual funds.
Both power and banking sectors posted the highest gain of 0.42 per cent each, followed by non-bank financial institutions (0.24 per cent), pharmaceuticals (0.15 per cent) and engineering (0.05 per cent).
Telecommunications and food sectors lost 0.66 per cent and 0.51 per cent respectively.
The gainers took a modest lead over the losers, as out of 352 issues traded, 196 advanced, 118 declined and 38 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
Fortune Shoes topped the turnover chart with 6.04 million shares worth Tk 232 million changing hands.
The other turnover leaders were United Power, Silco Pharmaceuticals, GP, and Global Insurance Company.
A total of 95,828 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume standing at 126.60 million securities.
The market capitalisation of the DSE also rose to Tk 3,817 billion on Wednesday, from Tk 3,812 billion in the previous session.
Eastern Insurance was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.90 cent while BIFC was the worst loser, shedding 8.57 per cent.
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange, also ended marginally higher with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - advancing 28 points to settle at 15,730 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - gaining 22 points to finish at 9,559.
Here too, the gainers beat losers, as 151 issues closed higher, 98 lower and 24 remained unchanged on the CSE trading floor.
The port city bourse traded 22.22 million shares and mutual fund units worth Tk 301 million in turnover.
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