The benchmark index, which opened Sunday morning at 415.7 points, gained 1.9 percent over the week to close at 423.53 points on Thursday -- the last trading day of the week. [break]
The weekly Nepse report shows that the index, which had crept to 417.29 points by the closing hour of Wednesday, made impressive gains on Thursday when 6.24 points were added to it. The gains made on the last trading day of the week alone added Rs 5.92 billion in market capitalization to the bourse. Throughout the week, the stock market gained Rs 7.67 billion in market capitalization.
The stock market performed relatively better over the week helped in part by Nepal Telecom, whose share price rose by almost nine percent to close at Rs 660 on Thursday. Fluctuation in share price of the state-controlled telecom operator affects the entire market as it has the biggest market capitalization of Rs 99 billion on the bourse.
This impetus provided by the state-controlled telco to the benchmark index was further boosted by high demand for shares of insurance and hydropower companies.
Over the week, insurers like Life Insurance and Nepal Life Insurance added value of Rs 61 and Rs 22, respectively, to their stocks to end the week at Rs 1,291 and Rs 1,240. Shares of Everest Insurance, which resumed trading on Wednesday following suspension on September 12 due to threats issued by promoters to shut down the entire business, also made an impressive gain of 12 percent over the week to close at Rs 364.
Among hydropower companies, stocks of Chilime Hydropower and Butwal Power nudged up by 11.5 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, to end the week at Rs 970 and Rs 748, respectively.
Although these hikes in stock prices and subsequent rise in benchmark index indicate that the overall market sentiment remained more positive during the week, stock transaction amount has continued to fall in the recent days, suggesting investors are not upbeat.
Share trading amount, over the week, stood at Rs 302.40 million, which is 30.58 percent lower than that of previous week´s Rs 435.66 million. This is the second consecutive week when trading amount has slumped by over 30 percent.
Many investors are not showing interest in the stock market these days as most of the listed companies have already declared dividends and not many surprises are in store for them.
Related story
Market ends week flat with Nepse yet to close above key 3,200 l...
