Buoyed by the preparation for dialogue between the government and agitating Madhesi parties and speculation that India is positive to lift the undeclared economic blockade, the stock market took a sharp upward ride this week. The stock market was on a continuous fall in recent weeks as many panicked investors had started offloading their shares.
“News reports say the government and Madhesi parties are preparing for final dialogue to settle all the disputes. It seems that the government and agitating parties are serious toward finding solution. This has make investors a bit upbeat this week,” a stock broker told Republica. “Also there has been discussion in Indian parliament about Nepal's issue. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa visited India this week and there is a general sentiment that India has given assurances to lift the blockade soon. This indication has lifted spirit of investors who were otherwise pessimist about the country's economic outlook,” the stock broker added.
Most of the trading groups ended on the green zone this week. Insurance group was the biggest gainer of the week as its sub-index jumped by a whopping 248.76 points to close at 4,475.14 points. Banking, the heavyweight trading group in the secondary market, also ended 59.07 points higher to close at 990.57 points. Hydropower group followed suit, as its sub-index climbed up 58.43 points to settle at 1,911.58 points. The sub-indices of Development Bank and Hotels also went up 47.71 points and 25.51 points, respectively, to finish at 927.67 points and 1,757.56 points. Finance and 'Others' group also went up 3.02 points and 3.52 points to close at 548.68 points and 760.11 points, respectively. Manufacturing and Processing, and Trading sub-indices remained unchanged at 1,862.43 points and 207.97 points, respectively.
A total of 2.86 million units of shares of 147 companies worth Rs 1.46 billion were traded in the market this week through 10,863 transactions.
Himalayan Bank led the list of companies in terms of turnover (Rs 152.9 million), while Nabil Balanced Fund-I remained at the top in terms of number of shares traded (290,000). Similarly, Api Power was at the top in terms of number of transactions (2,481).
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