Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) Index rallied to 560.34 points within 20 minutes of the opening of trading at noon on Thursday after Chief Justice Khila Raj Regmi was sworn in as chairman of the interim government formed to hold fresh Constituent Assembly elections.[break]
This was the first time the index had reached the level since November 22, 2009 -- a sign that stock investors had welcomed the latest political development.
"But after some political parties objected to the appointment of Regmi as the chairman of the election government, confidence dampened," stockbroker Anjan Poudel told Republica.
Poudel was referring to the Mohan Baidya-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, which enforced a half-day Kathmandu Valley-wide banda on Thursday to protest the formation of the CJ-led election government, and to 21 other fringe parties that objected to the 11-point deal signed by the major political parties that paved the way for formation of the interim government.
As a result, the benchmark index dipped to 548.4 points by the closing time -- up 2.26 points, or 0.41 percent, from that of Wednesday.
"Another reason behind the sudden fall was profit booking," Poudel said. "Since the last few weeks the stock market has remained passive, so as soon as it became vibrant, stock investors sold shares to book profits."
On Thursday, Rs 175.64 million worth of shares were traded at Nepse. The top gainer was Vibor Development Bank, whose shares gained 9.4 percent to end at Rs 128. Close on the heels was Lumbini General Insurance, which rose 9.24 percent to close at Rs 130. Country Development Bank (up 5.88 percent to Rs 72), Prudential Insurance (up 5.06 percent to Rs 187) and Himalayan Bank (up 3.96 percent to Rs 841) were other top gainers of Thursday.
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