KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index witnessed a surge in the morning on Tuesday before pulling back slightly at mid-day. Nonetheless, the index saw strength throughout the latter trading hours and wavered around 1,140 points. At the close, the index registered a gain of 17.11 points to close the day at 1,341.38 points.
The index, after hitting 1,320 points mark, has found some ground as the index continued its rebound for a second straight day. More buyers flocked to buy equities as the market showed no signs of further correction. Turnover, subsequently, increased by over 50% against the day earlier. More than Rs 1.5 billion worth of securities changed hands in the session.
The broad rally saw most of the sectors close the day with notable gains. Only Trading sub-group bucked the trend losing 1.33%. Major strength was seen in microfinance scrips. The group's sub-index jumped 3.2%. Further, Non-Life Insurance and Mutual Fund sectors added 1.57% apiece. Banking and Development Bank sub-indices also climbed over 1% higher each. All other sectors ended the day in positive territory.
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Shares of Shivam Cements Ltd led the list of active scrips for a second consecutive day. More than Rs 150 million worth of the manufacturer's shares changed hands. NIC Asia Bank Ltd closely followed with a turnover of Rs 112 million. Civil Bank Ltd's shares were also heavily traded with a turnover of Rs 83 million. Chhimek Laghubitta Bikas Bank Ltd and Citizen Investment Trust saw turnovers of over Rs 50 million each. Swarojgar Laghubitta Bikas Bank Ltd, Nepal Life Insurance Co Ltd and NMB Bank Ltd were among other top turnover stocks.
On the gainers front, Kalika Power Company Ltd hit the upper circuit of positive 10%. Nepal Seva Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd also rallied 9.83%. Nepal Hydro Developers Ltd shot up by 7.5%. Laxmi Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Swarojgar Laghubitta Bikas Bank Ltd saw advances of over 6% each. Dibyashwori Hydropower Ltd, Support Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Saptakoshi Development Bank Ltd were the other major gainers of the day.
On the other hand, Union Hydropower Ltd tanked 5.08%. Finance stocks followed as Central Finance Co. Ltd and Reliance Finance Ltd registered losses of 4.08% and 3.35%, respectively. Salt Trading Corporation, Bottlers Nepal (Terai) Ltd and Rairang Hydropower Development Company Ltd fell around 2% each.
Two major commercial banks published its earnings results on the day. While Standard Chartered Bank Ltd reported a 7.12% year-on-year growth in its net profit to Rs 1.22 billion, Nabil Bank Ltd saw its earnings decline by 6.2% to Rs 2.04 billion.
On the ARKS technical front, the index formed a bullish candlestick on the daily timeframe stretching gains for a second consecutive day. Technical indicators suggest the market gaining slight momentum following two winning sessions. The index now trades close to its resistance at 1,350 points. Given the index manages to breach the resistance with notable volumes, the index will likely make course for a further upward movement targeting 1,400 points.
This column is produced by ARKS Capital Advisors Ltd
www.arkscapitaladvisors.com
(Views expressed are those of the producer and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication)
