According to stock brokers, the market is gaining some momentum in the recent days following some hiccups in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of April 25 and subsequent aftershocks.
“The benchmark index is edging close to the pre-earthquake level. It is yet to be seen whether the market will move upward or become more volatile after that,” GunanidhiBhusal, managing director of Aryatara Investment and Securities, said.
The market had closed at 938.19 points on April 23 -- the last trading day before the earthquake. The benchmark index nosedived 28.37 points on the first trading day since the earthquake. Slide in Nepse index continued until it lowered to 837.83 points before it started recovering some ups and downs in the subsequent trading days.
“Much of the loss in the market following the earthquake was due to psychological fear among investors which has been alleviated by the news reports that there have not been significant losses in the listed companies. However, a clear picture of the earthquake's impact on the balance sheets of listed companies is still due,” Bhusal said. “The market seems to have weathered the tragedy.”
Most of the trading groups ended on the green zone this week. Insurance group, which was on a freefall following the earthquake, was the biggest gainer of the week as its sub-index jumped by 123.15 points to close at 3,903.21 points. The sub-indices of Hydropower and Hotels groups also rose 43.13 points and 29.38 points, respectively, to close the week at 2,101.56 points and 1,839.36 points. Banking, the heavyweight trading group in the secondary market, logged gain of 9.55 points to close at 816.4 points. 'Others' group also finished on the green zone, gaining 8.23 points to close at 722.53 points, while the sub-indices of Finance and Development Bank also inched up 2.69 points and 1.76 points, respectively, to close at 519.08 points and 766.65 points. Manufacturing and Processing group, however, went down by 5.58 points to close at 1,564.7 points. Trading group remained unchanged at 220.54 points.
A total of 2.78 million units of shares of 170 companies worth Rs 1.59 billion were traded in the market this week through 7,435 transactions. Total turnover was 7.85 percent down compared to figures of last week.
Nepal Credit and Commerce Bank topped the list of companies in terms of turnover (Rs 88.29 million) and number of transactions (493), while Nabil Balance Fund 1 was at the top in terms of number of shares traded (221,000 units).
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