Kathmandu, May 1:

Propelled by the increased confidence after the political change in the country, share trading at Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) is in a rosy mood and bulls continued to dominate the market.

The Nepse index today recorded a healthy growth of 13.29 points, after five year’s intra-day peak of 18.30 points on Sunday. The recent political developments, including the restoration of the parliament, have had a positive impact on the economy, which helped build up investors’ confidence.

Only on Monday, the total market capitalisation of listed companies’ shares at Nepse, has gone up by over Rs 3.15 billion to Rs 88.98 billion from Rs 85.83 billion on Sunday. Most companies gained in their respective share prices which have had their transactions today. Out of the 24 companies that had their transactions, 16 companies, mostly commercial banks, earned between Re 1 and Rs 115 per share today.

The Nepse index had gained 11.4 points last week after changes in the political sphere in the country. “It is a testament of the changed political scenario that investors’ confidence towards securities trading has certainly increased in recent days,” says Navraj Pokharel, stock broker and former president of Nepal Stock Brokers’ Association.

Investors have been keen on buying stocks of commercial banks and financial institutions. “Most of the commercial banks and other financial institutions attained growth when they recently published their results for the third quarter, which also attracted investors,” he added. Pokharel reckons that the trend is likely to continue for couple of days more, as share trading was halted during political demonstration period. “Lack of other areas for investment has also resulted in increased investors investment towards stock trading,” he said.

A total of 85,491 shares valued at Rs 37,829,490 were traded through 452 transactions today. Nepal Investment Bank Ltd is the largest gainer on intra-day trading, as the bank’s share prices rose by Rs 115 to Rs 1,240 from Rs 1,125 yesterday. Unilever Nepal Ltd suffered a loss of Rs 100 per share. The company’s share prices dropped to Rs 2,150 from an earlier Rs 2,250.