KATHMANDU: The local stock exchange witnessed a choppy trading session on the last trading day of the week. The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index turned slightly lower in the afternoon after trading almost flat for most of the early trading. Nonetheless, the index recouped its losses to end the day essentially unchanged. Nepse shed 0.15 points to close the last trading day of the week at 1,138.57 points. 

Lackluster trading in the secondary market continued further as investors have taken a cautious stance amid absence of any major impetus in the financial market. Despite more companies publishing upbeat earning reports, the index has failed to make any significant recovery. The local bourse posted a nominal turnover of Rs 256 million on the day.

Sectoral indices turned in mixed performance contributing to marginal movement of the Nepse index. Heavyweight Banking sub-index added 0.23 percent, while Hotels sub-index rose by 0.15 percent. Sub-indices of Finance and Microfinance sectors also inched higher. On the contrary, insurance stocks came under slight pressure as reflected by drops of 0.74 percent and 0.41 percent in sub-indices of Life Insurance and Non-life Insurance segments, respectively. Besides, sub-indices of ‘Others’, Trading, Hydropower and Development Bank sectors also dipped marginally.

Nepal Insurance Company Ltd led the list of companies in terms of turnover as more than Rs 24 million worth of the company’s shares changed hands on the day. Soaltee Hotel Ltd also posted turnover of Rs 20 million. Recently listed shares of Samudayik Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Ltd were also traded actively on the day with turnovers of Rs 17 million and Rs 14 million, respectively. Nepal Investment Bank Ltd, Nepal Life Insurance Company Ltd and Prabhu Bank were the other companies posting high turnovers.

Among advances, share price of Samudayik Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd continued its rally and gained 8.81 percent. Shares of Mero Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha followed suit posting gain of over 4 percent. Share price of Janata Bank Nepal Ltd was also up 3.70 percent after the commercial bank reported a 90 percent year-on-year growth in its net profit. Its earnings till the second quarter of FY2018/19 stand at Rs 635 million. Similarly, Mirmire Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, Prudential Insurance Co. Ltd and Nepal Bangladesh Bank Ltd added 3 percent, 2.33 percent and 2.20 percent, respectively, on their share prices.

In contrast, Joshi Hydropower Development Company Ltd came under significant pressure as its share price tanked by 8.63 percent. Shares of Mahuli Samudayik Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha also took a knock as its price fell by 3.70 percent. Further, Nepal Community Development Bank Ltd, Butwal Power Company Ltd and Laxmi Equity Fund also saw their unit prices go down by over 2 percent each. On earnings front, Mega Bank Ltd published its financials for the second quarter of FY2018/19, reporting a substantial increment in its net profit. Net profit of the Class ‘A’ bank surged to Rs 732 million compared to Rs 393 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

As per the ARKS technical analysis, the market formed a doji candlestick on the daily timeframe, reflecting indecision witnessed in the secondary market. However, overall trend seems fairly bearish as reflected by declines in technical indicators like Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD). At present, the index is hovering around the crucial 1,140-point mark. The breach of this mark can see the index tumble further to 1,120 points.

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)

 
• nepse
 
• stock
 
• market