The turnover on the prime bourse fell below Tk 6.50-billion on Tuesday, hitting seven weeks low, as most investors were reluctant to make fresh investment in stocks.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 6.12 billion on the country's premier bourse, slumping by 31 per cent over previous day's mark of Tk 8.91 billion.
It was the lowest single-day transaction in the last seven weeks since January 01, 2019, when the turnover totaled a record Tk 5.30 billion.
Market analysts said many investors followed 'wait-and-see' strategy ahead of earnings and dividend declaration of banks and non-bank financial institutions.
"The low turnover also reflects unwillingness on the part of investors to reinvest their money which is, to some extent, worrisome," said a leading broker.
He noted that some investors became concerned as GP was slapped with four restrictions by the telecom regulator as part of the penalties for becoming a Significant Market Power (SMP).
However, market index ended marginally higher after volatile trading as bargain hunters showed their buying appetite on sector specific shares.
DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,735, gaining 11.40 points or 0.19 per cent over the previous day.
Sheltceh Brokerage said the market edged higher riding on Grameenphone, United Power and Investment Corporation of Bangladesh.
Two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 7.61 points to finish at 1995 and the DSES (Shariah) index rose 2.85 points to settle at 1,307.
According to International Leasing Securities, the bargain hunters took position on the lucrative price level, particularly power, telecom, bank, financial institutions and pharma sectors that helped to close the market.
The stockbroker noted that some investors reshuffled their holdings from textile, engineering, paper and insurance sectors stocks to book quick profit.
Power sector posted the highest gain of 1.06 per cent, followed by telecommunication with 0.80 per cent, financial institutions 0.58 per cent, banking 0.43 per cent and pharmaceuticals 0.35 per cent.
Engineering and food & allied sectors lost 0.30 per cent and 0.02 per cent respectively.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange also edged higher with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - advancing 26 points to settle at 17,568 while the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -gaining 16 points to finish at 10,631.
Here too, the losers beat the gainers as 142 issues ended lower, 77 closed higher and 42 remained unchanged.
The port city bourse traded 6.61 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 218 million in turnover.
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