Stock market reaches 806.82 points

KATHMANDU, DEC 19 -

Continuing its bullish trend, the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) shot up 35.62 points on Wednesday to close at 806.82 points, the highest in the last five years. Earlier, the market had hit 793.86 points on November 16, 2008.

The benchmark index has been surging ever since the Constituent Assembly election on November 19 and has gained more than 200 points in the last one month. The market closed at 600.42 points on November 14.

Analysts and the stockbrokers have attributed the growth to increased liquidity in the banking system, post-election political situation, decrease in interest rates on deposits and margin loans.

Narendra Raj Sijapati, president of Nepal Stockbrokers’ Association, said the buying pressure is high. “As investor confidence has strengthened, the demand for shares has increased significantly compared to the supply,” he added.

Terming the market growth — backed by increasing transaction volume — “sustainable”, Sijapati expressed hope the benchmark index would surpass its record of 1175.38 points reached on August 31, 2008.

The market turnover on Wednesday amounted to Rs 404.6 million from the trading of 919,913 shares. The market capitalisation surged by 36.31 billion to reach 818.98 billion.

Source: The Kathmandu Post