KATHMANDU, June 15: Share prices fluctuated during the trading session on Thursday, but largely maintained a positive bias before closing slightly higher. In the last trading day of the week, the benchmark Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index ended 5.23 points higher to close at 1243.30 points.
Recent gains seen in the market with moderate turnover indicate that selling pressure is easing off to some extent. This shows that market is trying to stabilize before the upcoming monetary policy announcement. Subsequently, the market witnessed modest turnover of over Rs 318 million on the day.
Insurance was the only major sectors that ended the week lower. The Insurance Sub-Index fell by a meager 0.09 percent on the day. Manufacturing & Processing sector logged the maximum gain of 2.1 percent, followed by Hydropower and Hotel sub-indices which climbed 1.89 percent and 1.04 percent, respectively.
Nepse ends week with solid gains
Prabhu Bank Ltd (Promoter Share) was the forerunner in top turnover list with more than Rs 19 million worth of shares traded on the day. Further, Mega Bank Ltd posted a turnover of Rs 18 million. Grameen Bikas Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, NMB Bank Ltd and Nepal Life Insurance Company Ltd were the other active stocks of the day.
Unnati Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd was the biggest gainer of the day as its share price increase by 9.99 percent. Shares of Radhi Bidyut Company Ltd and Nepal Hydro Developers Ltd also surged over 9 percent each. Similarly, stocks of Kisan Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, Ngadi Group Power Ltd and Samata Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd logged gains of over 8 percent apiece.
Conversely, Jebils Finance Ltd turned in the worst performance of the day, dropping 3.70 percent. Civil Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd also saw its share price fall by over 3 percent. Other top losing stocks include Global IME Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, Laxmi Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Himalayan Distillery Ltd.
In news, Nepse opened trading for shares of Nepal Seva Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd on Thursday with an opening range of Rs 103.93-Rs 311.81. Its price closed at Rs. 310. Kamana Sewa Bikas Bank Ltd has proposed 12 percent dividend to its shareholders. The dividend will include 5.5 percent bonus shares and 6.5 percent cash dividend. Likewise, Reliance Finance Ltd has announced 12 percent bonus shares to its shareholders. Both the financial institutions will meet the mandatory capital requirement after their respective issues.
ARKS technical analysis model indicates that the index is approaching the immediate resistance of 1,250 points level after a bullish candlestick formation on Thursday. Relative Strength Index (RSI) showed a slight recovery, but it's still hovering near the oversold zone. Meanwhile, Moving Average Convergence/ Divergence (MACD) is still trending in the negative territory. Overall, if Nepse index manages to cross above the 1,250-point mark, complemented by a significant turnover, a short term rally can be expected.
