Daily market commentary

Nepse extends gains to second day

Published On: March 27, 2019 02:30 AM NPT By: Republica  | @RepublicaNepal


KATHMANDU, March 27: The local stock market witnessed choppy trading for most of Tuesday's session. The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index remained in red till afternoon. However, a final hour push saw the index close slightly higher. The benchmark index ended the day 2.07 points higher at 1,140.72 points.

The benchmark index stretched its gains further on Tuesday. The modest gains that came on the back of low traded volumes, however, suggest correction and cannot be taken as a sign of major reversal yet. Investors still lack conviction to trade actively in the bourse as reflected by another dry session with turnover of Rs 215 million.

Nonetheless, most of the traded sectors moved in tandem with the Nepse index and edged higher. Only Microfinance sub-index inched lower. Among gaining segments, 'Others' sub-index posted a gain of 0.78 percent, followed by sub-indices of Manufacturing & Processing and Non-life Insurance segments which ended the day 0.55 percent and 0.45 percent higher, respectively.

Nepal Bangladesh Bank Ltd Promoter Share led the list of top active scrips with total transaction of over Rs 15 million. Next on the list was NMB Bank Ltd which saw Rs 9 million worth of shares traded. Similarly, Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Ltd witnessed transaction of over Rs 7 million. Other commercial banks followed suit as shares of Prime Commercial Bank Ltd, Siddhartha Bank Ltd and Nepal Investment Bank Ltd were also actively traded on Tuesday.

Among advances, Nepal Seva Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd turned in the best performance of the day as its share price appreciated by 5 percent. NMB Hybrid Fund L-1 also witnessed strength as its unit price closed almost 4 percent higher. Correspondingly, share price of Pokhara Finance Ltd, Bhargav Bikash Bank Ltd and NIC Asia Growth Fund registered gains of 3.08 percent, 2.86 percent and 2.69 percent, respectively.

In contrast, recently-listed Universal Power Company Ltd and Shivam Cements Ltd's slump as share prices of both the companies hit negative circuit of 10 percent for third straight day. Similarly, share price of Mithila Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Support Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd fell by over 5 percent each. Other top losing securities include NIBL Pragati Fund, NMB Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Kisan Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

In corporate sphere, over 1.34 million units of promoter shares of Jyoti Bikas Bank Ltd have been converted to public shares as per a notice published by Nepse. The development bank is pursuing merger with Hamro Bikas Bank Ltd. In other news, Sunrise Bank Ltd is opening its issue of '10% Sunrise Debenture 2080' from April 3. The issue, which is worth Rs 1 billion, has maturity period of 5 years with annual 10 percent return.

The secondary market, as per the ARKS technical analysis, formed a second bullish candlestick this week as Nepse stretched its recovery. However, the sentiment remains neutral in the current juncture as reflected by technical indicators like Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD). The immediate resistance of the market lies at around 1,160 points, the breach of which might see the index post another move to the upper side.


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