KATHMANDU, May 10: Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index opened Thursday's trading on a sanguine note and traded in green in the first trading hour. However, stocks lost ground in the latter trading hours as the index retraced below the 1,300-point mark. As a result, the benchmark index shed 5.64 points to close the week at 1,291.96 points.

The benchmark index posted marginal loss for a second consecutive day on Thursday, but continued range bound trading. The index has wavered around 1,280-1,320 points range for nine straight sessions as stocks are consolidating after a sustained rally in the past month. Meanwhile, total turnover stood at Rs 947 million with Sanima Bank Ltd Promoter Share accounting for almost 30 percent of the total transactions.

On sectoral front, most of the sub-indices ended the day in red. Life Insurance and Banking sub-indices registered minimal losses of 0.79 percent and 0.71 percent, respectively. Further, sub-indices of Hotels, Microfinance, Development Bank, Finance, Hydropower and 'Others' groups saw their sub-indices go down marginally. Only Manufacturing & Processing and Non-life Insurance sub-indices eked out marginal gains.

Sanima Bank Ltd Promoter Share led the list of companies in terms of turnover. More than Rs 325 million worth of promoter shares of the commercial bank changed hands on the day. Next on the list were Shivam Cements Ltd and Neco Insurance Co Ltd with turnover of Rs 50 million and Rs 40 million, respectively. Likewise, NMB Bank Ltd, Agriculture Development Bank Ltd, Sagarmatha Insurance Ltd and Nepal Credit & Commercial Bank Ltd logged turnovers of over Rs 30 million each.

Sagarmatha Insurance Ltd turned in the best performance of the day as its share price surged over 8 percent. Nepal Hydro Developers Ltd, Himalayan Distillery Ltd and Janaki Finance Ltd posted gains of 8 percent, 7.71 percent and 7.19 percent, respectively. Shivam Cements Ltd, Sparsha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Premier Insurance Co. Ltd were among other top gainers of the day.

On the other hand, share price of Progressive Finance Ltd was down by 9.24 percent on Thursday. Next on the list of top losers were Multipurpose Finance Company Ltd and Ghalemdi Hydro Ltd whose respective share prices closed 7.45 percent and 4.31 percent lower. Similarly, Suryodaya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, Arun Valley Hydropower Development Co Ltd, Radhi Bidyut Company Ltd and Kailash Bikas Bank Ltd saw their share prices down by over 3 percent each.

Agriculture Development Bank Ltd has reported a growth of 23.09 percent in its net profit as per its earnings report for the third quarter of FY2018/19. Similarly, Nepal Credit & Commerce Bank Ltd has reported 31.08 percent year-on-year growth in its net profit to Rs 1.16 billion, as per its financials for the third quarter.

As per the ARKS technical analysis, the market formed a second bearish candlestick on the day. Slightly bearish sentiment is prevailing in the current scenario as reflected by technical indicators. However, the market has held its ground above 1,280 points. Unless the market breaches the respective line to the downside, further drop is less likely in the present context.

 
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