Stocks posted a marginal fall amid choppy trading on Wednesday, with the prime index of the Dhaka bourse retreating below 5800-mark as risk-averse investors opted for sell-offs.
Market analysts said majority of the investors adopted 'cautious' stance while some others were analysing the companies' quarterly performance to pick the right stocks.
On the other hand, the insurance sector bounced back again as seven gainers, out of top ten, belong to this sector.
The general insurance sector gained 2.80 per cent, as 34 insurance companies, out of 47, closed higher on the prime bourse.
After witnessing volatility throughout the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), closed 14.23 points or 0.24 per cent lower at nearly one-month low of 5,786.
According to International Leasing Securities, shaky investors' profit-booking tendency in financial institutions, engineering, textile and power sectors pushed down the index.
Genex Infosys, which made its trading debut on Wednesday, soared 465 per cent from its IPO price of Tk 10.
"The newcomer attracted the investors, which led to some selling pressure on other issues," said the stockbroker.
The DSES (Shariah) index also lost 5.03 points to settle at 1,312. However, the DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 1.35 points to finish at 2,022.
Turnover, another important indicator of the market, stood at Tk 7.66 billion, up 8.50 per cent from the previous day's turnover of Tk 7.06 billion.
EBL Securities said a meeting arranged by Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday to find out ways to reduce the non-performing loans helped stop further price correction in the banking sector.
The heavyweight banking sector advanced 0.10 per cent while food and telecom sectors also gained 1.30 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.
On the other hand, financial institutions, engineering and power sector fell 0.90 per cent, 0.60 per cent and 0.30 per cent respectively.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers, as out of 346 issues traded, 185 closed lower, 114 ended higher and 47 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
A total of 165,932 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume standing at 167.92 million shares and mutual fund units.
The market-cap of the DSE stood at Tk 4,187 billion, up from Tk 4,178 billion in the previous day.
The United Power topped the turnover chart for the third straight days with 1.89 million shares worth Tk 737 million changing hands, closely followed by newly listed Genex Infosys, Sonar Bangla Insurance, Paramount textile and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company.
The insurance sector dominated the gainers chart with Eastern Insurance emerging as the day's best performer by posting a gain of 10 per cent while Meghna Pet Industries was the day's biggest loser, shedding 5.58 per cent.
The port city bourse-Chittagong Stock Exchange-also closed in the red with the CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI - losing 16 points to settle at 17,718 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX - shedding 10 points to finish at 10,718.
Here too, the losers beat the gainers as 151 issues ended lower, 97 higher and 29 remained unchanged.
The port city bourse traded 10.69 million shares and mutual fund units worth over Tk 360 million in turnover.
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