Stocks posted marginal gain for the two consecutive weeks that ended Thursday as a group of investors booked quick-profit amid surging volatility in the market.
Market insiders said most of the investors followed cautious stance while some of them continued to react to corporate disclosures amid profit booking tendency, sending the market another flat end.
The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of them, three sessions closed marginally higher while two sessions fell slightly.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), inched higher by 6.32 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 4,587.67.
The two other indices also edged higher. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, advanced 6.63 points or 0.38 per cent to finish at 1,766.22. The DSE Shariah Index gained 6.54 points or 0.58 per cent to close at 1,125.40.
The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw marginal gain with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, advancing 19.76 points or 0.23 per cent to end at 8,609.86.
The participation from the investors also improved as total turnover for the week stood at Tk 22.46 billion against Tk 18.63 billion in the week before.
The daily turnover averaged Tk 4.49 billion, which was 20.5 per cent higher than the previous week's average of Tk 3.73 billion.
Overall activities remained confined on, engineering, fuel and power and pharmaceuticals sectors, where they captured 21 per cent, 15 per cent, 14 per cent respectively of the week's total turnover.
IDLC Investments, a merchant bank, said, "Cautious investment mindset made the investors followed passive strategy and look for profit opportunities amid surging volatility in the market".
The merchant bank noted that participants were mostly engaged in profit booking from micro caps throughout the week.
The IDLC analysis said some news-driven trading behaviour was also observed during the week as Reliance Insurance gained 7.3 per cent after its impressive annual declaration. And Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills continued its gaining streak after its lucrative earnings declaration last week as well as grabbed the highest turnover of the week.
"Through its flat movement again last week, market is still indicating to remain in the consolidation phase with a base around 4,580-mark," said LankaBangla Securities, a stockbroker, in its weekly analysis.
Royal Capital, a stockbroker, said, "some investors were in buy mood while some of them followed 'wait-and-see' approach with future expectations regarding upcoming dividend declaration of some listed companies".
The stockbroker noted that return to risk ratio tracked with better market performance per unit of risk level. However, the market growth slumped significantly last week compared to a week before.
"Investors adopted 'wait-and-see' strategy throughout the week in the absence any clear indication of future market outlook," said International Leasing Securities, a stockbroker, in an analysis.
However, the market participants showed optimism mostly in small cap issues while price correction in large caps caused the market to settle in flat during mid-sessions of the week, said the stockbroker.
Four listed companies - Green Delta Insurance, IPDC, Reliance Insurance and United Finance-- recommended dividend last week.
Green Delta Insurance recommended 25 per cent cash dividend, IPDC 20 per cent cash, Reliance Insurance 15 per cent cash and 15 per cent stock and United Finance recommended 5.0 per cent cash and 10 per cent stock dividend last week.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 330 issues traded, 202 closed lower, 99 higher and 29 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor during the week.
The market capitalisation of the DSE edged up by 0.33 per cent as it was Tk 3,173.94 billion on the opening day of the week and it stood at Tk 3,184.43 billion on closing day of the week.
Bangladesh Steel Re-rolling Mills dominated the week's turnover chart with 9.42 million shares worth Tk 1.55 billion changing hands followed by United Power Generation & Distribution Company Tk 1.21 billion, Beximco Pharma Tk 872 million, Square Pharma Tk 695 million and IFAD Autos Tk 647 million.
Prime Islami Life Insurance was the week's best performer, posting a rise of 21.85 per cent while Libra Infusion was the week's worst loser, plunging by 17.91 per cent.
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