KATHMANDU, Oct 2: Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index continued its losses for fourth straight day on Monday, losing 18.04 points to close at 1,238.67 points. The stock market was under pressure throughout Monday's trading session. Though the index attempted recovery in the afternoon after losing six points in the initial trading, it could not post gains.

After closing at a 3-month high of 1,280.05 points in the previous week, Nepse posted loss for a fourth consecutive session. Investors seemed reluctant to take long positions before holiday season, while short-term profit booking continued. With the significant dip, daily turnover also fell to Rs 540 million compared to Sunday's Rs 589 million.

Most of the major sectoral indices mirrored the broader market and ended in red. Only Manufacturing & Processing sub-index closed higher, gaining 1.16 percent while Trading sub-index ended flat. Development Bank sector was the major contributor to Nepse's downturn as its sub-index tumbled almost 2 percent. Banking stocks also suffered with its sub-index going down 1.79 percent. Similarly, sub-indices of Life Insurance, Microfinance and Non-life Insurance sub-groups shed over 1 percent each. All other sub-indices edged lower.

In terms of stock-wise turnover, Nepal Bank Ltd led the list of companies in terms of turnover. Over Rs 78 million of the bank' shares changed hands on the day. Next on the list was NMB Bank Ltd and NIC Asia Bank Ltd with turnover of over Rs 28 million and Rs 24 million, respectively. Further, Kumari Bank Ltd, Sanima Mai Hydropower Ltd and Prabhu Bank Ltd registered turnover of over Rs 23 million each. Other banking stocks followed suit.

On the gaining front, Nadep Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha was the biggest gainer of the day as it saw its share price surge by almost 10 percent. Himalayan Distillery Ltd also added 5.35 percent on its share price. Meanwhile, share price of Synergy Power Development Ltd and World Merchant Banking & Finance Ltd climbed by 2.75 percent and 2.11 percent, respectively. Other advances for the day include Bottlers Nepal (Terai) Ltd, First Microfinance Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Shrijana Finance Ltd.

Conversely, shares of Bhargav Bikas Bank Ltd logged the worst performance of the day. The development bank, which rallied 50 percent in the past two weeks, retraced over 9 percent. Subsequently, other development banks including Shangrila Development Bank Ltd and Jyoti Bikas Bank Ltd tumbled over 6 percent each.

Correspondingly, share price of Purnima Bikas Bank Ltd, Kankai Bikas Bank Ltd and Kanchan Development Bank Ltd fell over 5 percent each.

On news front, Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has approved 50 percent rights issue of Mahuli Samudayik Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. Following the issue, the company's capital will reach Rs 90 million.

As per ARKS technical analysis, the market breached the support of 1,250 points with the day's decline. Technical indicators, including Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) and Relative Strength Index (RSI), have tilted downward with the recent downturn. The immediate support lies around 1,233 points from which a bounce back can be expected. Nonetheless, if the index fails to hold above this level, further drop to 1,210 can be expected.

 
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