Kathmandu, February 1

The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index recorded a fresh high today as the benchmark index rose by 0.57 per cent or 7.2 points to 1,273.28 points.

The country’s sole secondary market has clocked eight weekly gains since December 24 of last year.

Stock market analysts have said that the recent bull run in the stock market is due to positive political cues.

The bull run in the stock market today was led by hotels sector. The hotels sub-index increased by 26.75 points or 1.54 per cent to land at 1,760.84 points.

Banking, development banks, hydropower and finance witnessed gains today, as their sub-indices surged by 1.08 per cent to 1,168.62 points; 0.01 per cent to 1,257.55 points; 0.63 per cent to 2,263.99 points and 0.1 per cent to 611.27 points, respectively.

However, insurance and others sub-groups ended in the red zone — dipping 0.09 per cent to 5,562.21 points and 0.71 per cent to 822.37 points, respectively.

In total, 3,345,358 shares of 118 firms that amounted to Rs 657.36 million changed hands through 3,032 transactions today.

The sensitive index, which measures the performance of Class ‘A’ stocks increased by 0.62 per cent to 274.85 points.

Likewise, float index, which gauges the performance of shares actually traded, also rose by 0.81 per cent to 91.67points.