Commenting on the marginal drop in Nepse index, Anjan Raj Poudyal, former president of Stock Brokers´ Association Nepal, said the secondary market has remained more or less stable over the past few weeks. “It is a natural trend ahead of the festive season. We will see some fluctuations only after the festive season when listed companies declare dividend and bonus through their annual general meetings,” added Poudyal. [break]
He further added that some investors are planning to put money in the primary market. He was referring to the initial public offering (IPO) by Sanima Mai Hydropower, which opened on Friday, and Kalika Microfinance.
According to Nepse, a total of 2.11 million units of shares of 134 companies worth Rs 587 million were traded through 8,181 transactions this week. Last week, shares worth Rs 972 million had changed hands through 11,643 transactions.
The sub-index of Insurance group gained a whopping 60.10 points to close at 1,347.50 points this week. According to Poudyal, investors are after the shares of insurance companies as insurance stock are regarded as lucrative as commercial bank stock in terms of profits with relatively lower investments.
Share prices of insurance companies are comparatively lower compared to commercial banks. But they posted impressive in 2012/13, according to preliminary financial statement submitted to the Insurance Board - the insurance sector regulator.
The sub-index of Hotels group gained 27.27 to settle at 704.50 points. However, the sub-indices of Hydropower and Commercial Bank groups went down by 16.10 and 3.91 points, respectively, to close at 1297.99 points and 526.29 points. Likewise, the sub-indices of Development Bank and Finance declined by 3.49 and 0.72 points to settle at 276.42 and 263.57 points, respectively.
The sub-indices of Manufacturing, Trading and Others groups remained unchanged over the week.
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