As the dominance of junk shares in the stock market rises, a big chunk of the investors stays off the market – a stagnant situation that analysts attributed to the floor price set by the market regulator. Strong fundamental shares being stuck at floor prices, set by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), is a major barrier to bringing stability to the market, insiders said.According to a stock market review report released by a brokerage firm Royal Capital, shares of 167 companies got stuck at the floor prices on Wednesday and a good number of these companies are strong.A review of the Dhaka Stock Exchange s (DSE) trading records of the last three months revealed that almost all the shares of strong companies such as Beximco, Beximco Pharma, Square Pharma, Brac Bank, Renata and multinational companies, in which institutional and foreign investments are high, are stuck at the floor prices and are hardly traded.But investors are usually more interested in the shares of these companies which remain at the top of the daily trading list on the DSE.The reality, however, painted a different picture. The stock market has witnessed a boom in junk and low-paid-up companies for the past three months. Shares of companies like Sonali Paper, Beach Hatchery, BD Welding, Fine Foods, and Gemini Sea Food are on the top of the daily trading list. In addition, their share prices have increased at an unusual rate. The first choice of the market manipulators is weak and low-paid-up companies, a top brokerage firm official told The Business Standard (TBS), on condition of anonymity. And some greedy investors put money into these shares hoping for quick profits. The prices of these shares rise and fall quickly, he said. But due to the floor price, investors are now bound to invest in these junk shares. Hence, the daily turnover of DSE is going up to Tk1,000 crore in a day and plummeting to Tk150 crore the next day, resulting in a completely unstable market, the brokerage official said.Because of this unstable nature of the market, a global research firm Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) recently excluded the DSE from their report. But foreign investors decide to invest in DSE based on the report of this company.In response to the question of why investors are not buying shares at a price higher than the floor price, the brokerage firm official said, Most investors think that the current share price is artificially held back by the floor price. They think that the market correction has not been done properly and the shares are overvalued. No one is interested in buying shares in this situation. The stock market regulator has completely failed to create confidence among investors, he added.Indices at the Dhaka bourse on Wednesday (15 February) ended in red following the previous trading session amid the profit booking in some specific stocks. Besides, transactions have also slowed down.DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), fell by 0.17% or 11 points to settle at 6,245 points.Among the shares traded, weak companies like Sonali Paper were at the top of the transaction and Beach Hatchery was at the top of the top ten gainers of DSE.