Dhaka stocks finished up, though marginally, last week gaining for six weeks in a row as late sell-offs on fears of political unrest trimmed down gains in the share prices early in the week.
DEGN, the benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, gained 0.45 per cent, or 23.92 points, to close the week at 5,367.52 points.
The average daily turnover in the week also increased by 20.80 per cent to Tk 1,021.40 crore from that of Tk 845.53 crore in the week before.
Of 276 issues traded last week, 89 advanced, 174 declined, and 13 remained unchanged.
Market operators said investors became shaky later in the week because of tensions on the political front.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Wednesday called a nationwide general strike for Sunday (today).
Market insiders said anticipations over the outcome of the writ petition filed against the Securities an Exchange Commission rule on mandatory shareholding for the directors of listed companies also made investors nervous.
On April 8, the High Court asked the concerned parties to explain justification of the rule in four weeks following a writ petition filed by an applicant for the directorship of NCC Bank.
‘Investors seemed sceptical as the political front is getting heated up again,’ said a DSE stockbroker. 
Non-bank financial institutions sector was the top gaining sector last week with a 10.72-per cent increase.
Among the other major sectors, banks gained 1.97 per cent and pharmaceuticals 0.87 per cent.
Fuel and power lost 5.53 per cent after a sharp gain in the previous few weeks. Telecommunications sector lost 1.25 per cent.
Padma Life Insurance and GPH Ispat made their debuts at the DSE Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
Share price of Padma Life Insurance closed at Tk 154.20 on Thursday from its offer price of Tk 10 while that of GPH Ispat closed at Tk 72.90 from its offer price of Tk 30.
Grameenphone topped the turnover leaders’ list with its shares worth Tk 221.13 crore changing hands in the week.
The other turnover leaders were Meghna Petroleum, Jamuna Oil, Beximco, Titas Gas, Lafarge Surma Cement, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, LankaBangla Finance, MI Cement and Aftab Automobiles.
The market started the week with a gain of 120.56 points on Sunday but fell by 46.24 points on Monday.
On Tuesday, the DGEN again went up by 84.37 points but declined by 22.11 points on Wednesday.
The index lost 112.65 points on Thursday.