Nepse gains 17.58 points on hopes of political deal
KATHMANDU, Feb 16:
The domestic stock market rallied 17.58 points, or 3.43 percent, over the week, as positive political development and commercial banks´ impressive second quarter results gave a boost to investor confidence.
Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index, which started off the week at 512.62 points on Sunday, rose to as high as 532.92 points on Tuesday, before closing at 530.20 points on Thursday, the last trading day of the week.
As investors were upbeat, the stock market recorded a weekly transaction of Rs 552.71 million, up 24.25 percent than previous week, despite the market remaining open for only four days as against five days during normal weeks.
“The benchmark index galloped soon after major political parties engaged in serious talks to choose next prime ministerial candidate for formation of a national consensus government and holding elections,” Stockbroker Anjan Poudel told Republica. “If they manage to strike a deal, the index is likely to post further gains.”
The market rally over the week was led by banking, hydropower and insurance sectors.
Banking sub-index leapt 24.32 points, or 4.9 percent, to close at 520.61 points on Thursday as financial reports of most of the commercial banks showed higher profits in the second quarter of the current fiscal year to mid-January.
The biggest winner among commercial banks was Nabil Bank, whose share price shot up Rs 143 over the week to close at Rs 1,749. Its market capitalization, or share market value, stands at Rs 35.50 billion, the highest among the country´s commercial banks. Standard Chartered Bank Nepal, the second largest commercial bank in terms of market capitalization, also posted gains of Rs 13 over the week to close at Rs 1,952. Other leading banks, such as Everest, Nepal Investment and Himalayan, also saw their share value jumping Rs 72, Rs 43 and Rs 42, respectively, to close at Rs 1,451, Rs 803 and Rs 802.
The insurance sector also posted hefty gains over the week, with its sub-index leaping 31.56 points over the week to close at 848.84 points on Thursday. The biggest gainer among insurance companies was Nepal Life Insurance Company, whose share price ended at Rs 2,030 on Thursday, up Rs 365 than Sunday´s opening of Rs 1,665.
The hydropower sub-index also surged by 34.81 points to 1019.02 points over the week as share price of Chilime Hydropower gained 5.33 percent to close at Rs 1,127 on Thursday.
Other sub-indices also ended higher, except for ´others´ sub-index, which fell 4.7 points to 761.3 points, due to a loss of Rs 4 made by shares of Nepal Telecom over the week. “Investors are not that interested in shares of the state-run telecom company, as its profit growth rate has lately started declining,” Poudel said.
Source: Republica
