KATHMANDU, Sept 10: The stock market, which ended its 5-day winning streak on Thursday, came under further pressure on Sunday. The benchmark Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index fell since the beginning of the trading session in the first trading day of the week. After making a failed rebound attempt in the midday session, Nepse index ended the day 10.79 points down at 1,218.98 points.

The decline came amidst further profit booking by traders. Meanwhile, investors also kept from taking long position in the market. The drop in Nepse index was also accompanied by a substantial drop in market activity. Total turnover fell to Rs 327 million – a decline of almost 59 percent compared to the previous trading day.

All major sub-indices mirrored the market movement and ended the day lower. The broad decline was led by Microfinance scrips as its sub-index shed 1.65 percent. Insurance stocks also struggled, reflected by a drop in 1.44 percent and 1.19 percent in sub-indices of Non-life and Life Insurance groups, respectively. Further, Development Bank and Hydropower sub-indices also lost over 1 percent each.

Meanwhile, sub-indices of heavyweight banking scrips retraced 0.67 percent. Market participation largely remained in favor of commercial bank stocks. NIC Asia Bank Ltd led the list of active stocks with a turnover of over Rs 25 million. Similarly, shares worth Rs 20.92 million of NMB Bank Ltd changed hands on the day. Shares of Kumari Bank Ltd were also traded actively as the bank's shares worth more than Rs 19 million were traded on Sunday. Global IME Bank Ltd, Century Commercial Bank Ltd and Prabhu Bank Ltd were the other active stocks of the day.

In terms of advances, shares of Janaki Finance Ltd logged the best performance on the first trading day of the week. Its share price surged 9.60 percent after the finance company announced 22 percent bonus shares to its shareholders. Shares of Kabeli Bikas Bank Ltd followed suit, adding 4.93 percent on its share prices. Consequently, the development bank's scrip has continued its rally for five straight trading days, posting a gain of 51.27 percent on the way. Further, unit prices of Suryodaya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Global IME Sammunat Scheme-1 rose over 4 percent each. Shree Ram Sugar Mills and Butwal Power Company Ltd were among the other top gainers.

In contrast, Green Development Bank Ltd suffered the most as its share price tumbled by 9.35 percent. Likewise, share price of Himalayan Power Partner tanked over 7 percent. Besides, shares of Vijaya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, Kalika Microcredit Development Bank Ltd and Bhargav Bikash Bank Ltd lost over 5 percent each.

On news front, Barun Hydropower Company Ltd published its earnings report for the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2017/18. As per the report, the hydropower company earned a net profit of Rs 11.79 million in the year -- down by 82 percent from Rs 66.09 million recorded last year. Its share price fell by 2.96 percent to close at Rs 131 per unit on the day.

As per the ARKS technical analysis model, the market retraced for two days following five straight sessions of gains. Nonetheless, the index has stayed above 20-day and 50-day exponential moving averages (EMAs). Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) has further rose toward positive territory, indicating momentum favoring bulls at the present. If the index manages to climb back above 1,224 points with significant activity, a surge to 1,270 points can be expected. The immediate support lies at 1,200 points level.

This column is produced by ARKS Capital Advisors Ltd www.arkscapitaladvisors.com
(Views expressed are those of the producer and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication)

 
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