KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 5
The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index rose by 63.67 points or 3.43 per cent to 1,922.16 points between October 31 and November 3. The market was open for just four days and took a northward trend for the first three days of the trading week.
With companies starting to distribute bonus and dividends to their investors, the upcoming elections, and increasing flow of remittance into the country, the market has witnessed slight growth in the recent weeks, indicating a slow growth of the sector in the months to come, analysts say.
"Investors are not ready to sell their stocks at a low price and are waiting for the right moment to offload them.
With the end of the festive season and companies starting to distribute dividends and bonuses, investor optimism is high. Also, there are many people investing in stocks from their own savings instead of using loans from banks due to the high lending rates, contributing to slight growth in the market every now and again," Chhote lal Rauniyar, former president of Nepal Investors Forum, opined.
He also said that banks are being pressured by traders and industrialists to reduce the lending rates which may lead to some reduction in interest rates on loans. "Despite the risks in the market, there is also a huge opportunity for investors at present as the market has been bearish over the past 15 months. This is the right time for investors to invest," he added.
The benchmark index had opened at 1,858.49 points on Monday and gained 16.39 points to settle at 1,874.88 points by the time of closing.
The market gained 56.11 points on Tuesday to close at 1,930.99 points. On Wednesday, the benchmark index gained another 7.31 points before falling by 16.14 points to 1,922.16 points on Thursday.
The sensitive index, which measures the performance of class 'A' stocks, increased by 3.69 per cent or 13.50 points to 379.43 points in the review period. Similarly, the float index that gauges the performance of shares actually traded also rose by 3.21 per cent to 134.50 points.
Altogether 13.66 million shares were traded during the week through 92,867 transactions that amounted to Rs 4.35 billion. The average daily turnover also rose to Rs 1.08 billion compared to last week when it stood at Rs 51.68 million.
It has to be noted, however, that the market had opened for only one day last week before the Tihar holidays began.
Indices of all 13 subgroups landed in green this week. The banking sub-index increased by 2.70 per cent or 35.66 points, manufacturing and processing by 3.99 per cent or 192.45 points, hotels and tourism by 3.60 per cent or 92.65 points, others by 7.34 per cent or 95.78 points, and hydropower by 3.92 per cent or 75.01 points.
Similarly, trading rose by 3.32 per cent or 58.58 points, non-life insurance by 2.73 per cent or 204.89 points, finance by 5.67 per cent or 85.03 points, development banks by 3.31 per cent or 110.24 points, microfinance by 2.28 per cent or 95.71 points, life insurance by 2.96 per cent or 256.82 points, mutual funds by 0.74 per cent or 0.10 points and investment by 4.24 per cent or 2.36 points over the review week.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 6, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
