KATHMANDU, March 9: Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) on Thursday escalated by 50.04 points after banks were reported to be looking forward to reducing interest rates on their loans.

The secondary market opened at 1,952.66 points and surged to 1,986.7 points in the first few minutes. However, the market slipped 13 points in the next 15 minutes, before taking an upward graph in the remaining trading hours before closing at 2,002.70 points for the day.

According to stockbrokers, investors have been encouraged by the possibility of banks reducing interest rates on loans. With the banks being unable to provide loans due to the existing high interest rates, they are reported to be considering reducing their interest rates.   

In the intraday trading, 213 listed companies gained in their market values, while only three companies were registered as losers. The sensitive index that measures the performance of blue chip companies increased notably by 9.27 points.

The daily turnover amount inched up to Rs 1.56 billion from Rs 1.20 billion on Tuesday. The government announced a public holiday on Wednesday to mark International Women’s Day.

All the 13 trading groups gained in their market values. Life insurance’s index surged 313.74 points, the highest amongst all. Non-life insurance, microfinance and development bank also gained three-digit points.

Among individual companies, Shivam Cements had the largest transaction of its shares worth Rs 78.58 million. Shuvam Power Limited was the topmost gainer, while Siddhartha Investment Growth Scheme-2 lost the highest percent of its market value.

 
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