KATHMANDU, July 1: The equity market opened session slightly in green and rose sharply in the beginning trading hour. Despite a modest pullback, the benchmark continued to rise till mid-session reaching as high as 2,867. However, stocks changed course in the remaining trading hours. Selling pressure in afternoon saw the index give up most of the early gains to settler Thursday’s trading with an advance of 19.12 points. Nepse finished session at 2,843.

The equity market made a slight recovery following Wednesday’s rebound from 2,780 mark. Nonetheless, gains remained modest as investors are yet to take buying positions with notable conviction. Turnover improved slightly as finance and development banks continued to recoup its past weeks’ losses. The equity market witnessed a turnover of Rs. 6.71 billion. 

Barring Non-Life Insurance sector, all other segments ended the day in green. Hotels & Tourism, Development Bank and Finance groups saw notable gains as the respective sub-indices shot up by 4.48%, 3.64% and 3.04%. ‘Others’ sub-index climbed 1.74%. Meanwhile, Banking sector ended slightly higher.

Neco Insurance Company Ltd was the most actively traded stock of the day with over Rs. 307 million worth of the shares being traded. Jyoti Bikas Bank Ltd and Mega Bank Ltd saw turnovers of over Rs. 180 million apiece. Butwal Power Company Ltd, Nepal Reinsurance Company Ltd and NLG Insurance Company Ltd were among other top turnover stocks. 

Oriental Hotels Ltd, Goodwill Finance Company Ltd, Green Development Bank Ltd and Sindhu Bikash Bank Ltd led the list of gainers with each scrip rallying more than 9%. Best Finance Company Ltd and Joshi Hydropower Development Company Ltd also saw strength and posted gains of 8.64% and 7.38%, respectively. Jyoti Bikash Bank Ltd, Soaltee Hotel Ltd and Reliance Finance Ltd were the other major gainers of the day. 

Radhi Bidyut Company Ltd, NLG Insurance Company Ltd and Suryodaya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, on the other hand, suffered the most and fell around 2.4%. National Hydropower Company Ltd, Laxmi Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Unilever Nepal Ltd also ended the day slightly lower.

As per the ARKS technical analysis, the index formed a small bullish candlestick on the daily timeframe. However, with long upper wick formation, sellers dominated the latter half of Thursday’s session suggesting that sentiment is yet to shift notably in favor of bulls. With volumes on the lower side of the spectrum, the market will likely consolidate around the current zone. 2,800 psychological mark can be taken as the immediate support for the equity market. 

This column is produced by ARKS Capital Advisors Ltd.

(Views expressed in the article are those of the producer and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication)

 
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