Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) Index Rises by 1.73 Percent in Past Week
Key Highlights :
The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index saw a surge of 35.55 points or 1.73 per cent in the trading week between July 9 and 13, settling at 2,084.93 points. The sensitive index, which measures performance of class 'A' stocks, increased 2.38 per cent to 391.25 points in the review period. The float index that gauges performances of shares actually traded rose by 1.54 per cent or 2.16 points to settle at 144.05 in the review week.
Altogether 45.41 million shares were traded during the review week through 310,890 transactions that amounted to over Rs 16.27 billion. The weekly turnover fell by over 8.85 per cent compared to the previous week when 45.03 million shares had changed hands through 308,798 transactions that totalled Rs 17.86 billion. Meanwhile, the average daily turnover in the past week was over Rs 3.57 billion and it dropped to Rs 3.25 billion this week.
The benchmark index had opened at 2,049.38 points on Sunday and it rose by 28.38 points by the time of closing to 2,077.76 points. The market shed 0.80 points to settle at 2,076.96 points on Monday, before losing 4.72 points to close at 2072.24 points on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the market gained 23.31 points but went on to lose 12.62 points on Thursday to settle at 2,084.93 points for the week.
Apart from hydropower, the remaining subgroups landed in the green this week. Development banks led the pack of gainers, advancing by 14.12 per cent to 3,874.21 points, followed by microfinance, up by 3.90 per cent to 4,010.47 points; finance rose by 70.11 per cent to 1,928.11 points; manufacturing and processing by 3.53 per cent to 5,612.77 points; mutual funds increased by 3.41 per cent to 0.49 points; others rose by 2.63 per cent to 39.52 points; trading was up 2.07 per cent to 2,642.49 points; and non-life insurance gained 1.79 per cent to 196.11 points; banking by 1.47 per cent to 1,218.55 points; investment by 1.40 per cent to 1,218.55 points; investment by 1.40 per cent to 72.60 points; hotels and tourism by 0.74 per cent to 5,810.02 points and life insurance by 0.22 26.71 per cent to 11,998.13 points. Meanwhile, hydropower dipped 0.09 per cent to 2,384.54 points.
The positive performance of the Nepse index in the past week can be attributed to the optimism among investors due to the government's decision to open the stock market from July 13 after a four-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. The government had imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 24 to contain the spread of the virus, which led to a complete closure of the stock market.
The government's decision to open the market has provided a much-needed boost to the stock market. The move is expected to help revive the economy, which has been severely hit by the pandemic. The government has also provided incentives to investors to encourage them to invest in the stock market.
The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index has been on a steady rise since the beginning of the year. The benchmark index has gained over 50 points since January 1, 2020. The index is expected to continue its upward trend in the coming weeks as investors become more confident in the market.
