KATHMANDU, July 4: Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index swung between gains and losses during Tuesday's trading session to end the day flat. The index, which started the session lower, recovered all its losses to close near the unchanged line. At the close, the index stood at 1,180.36 points – a rise of 0.65 points compared to Monday.

The bourse contributed one more dreary session to the series of passive market activities witnessed recently. Investors and traders mostly stayed away from their desks amid lack of clarity about the direction of the market. Despite an increase in market activity, the turnover stayed well below average, amounting to just over Rs 218 million.

Sub-indices of major groups turned in varied performance on Tuesday. Manufacturing Sub-index led the gains and went up 0.68 percent. The sub-indices of Hotels, Banking and Finance groups edged up by over 0.3 percent each. Meanwhile, microfinance stocks suffered with its sub-index dropping 0.62 percent. Weakness was also visible in insurance sector reflected by a dip of 0.49 percent in its sub-index.

Siddhartha Bank Ltd Promoter Share was the most active scrip of the day, posting a total transaction of over Rs 23 million. Next on the list of active stocks was Prime Commercial Bank Ltd as more than Rs 11 million worth of its shares were traded on the day. Other active stocks were National Life Insurance Company Ltd, Everest Bank Ltd and Nepal Investment Bank Ltd.

Laxmi Bank Ltd led the list of gainers as its price closed higher by 4.84 percent. The bank is in the process to undergo merger with Everest Bank Ltd. The merger is set to be the biggest of its kind in the Nepali equity market. Shares of Ridi Hydropower Development Company Ltd also surged 4 percent on the news of the company announcing 100 percent right shares to collect capital for its upcoming 8.5-megawatt solar project. Similarly, share price of Jebils Finance Ltd rose 2.94 percent.

On the other hand, share price of Rairang Hydropower Development Company Ltd continued its slump, losing almost 10 percent. Stocks of Hathway Finance also slid over 6 percent. Unnati Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, Arun Valley Hydropower Development Company Ltd and Saptakoshi Development Bank Ltd were the other losing stocks on the day.

In the corporate front, Swarojgar Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd has marked July 12 as its book closure date 100 percent rights issue. Nepse has converted over 1.89 million units of promoter shares of Nirdhan Utthan Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd to public shares. The microfinance's promoter to public share ratio now stands at 51:49.

ARKS technical analysis model indicates a doji candlestick formation on the daily timeframe. This reflects uncertainty observed on Tuesday's session, backed by minimal turnover in the day. Despite the index eking out a modest gain, it is yet to show a sign of significant recovery. Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) also indicate that the bear run is still dominant in the present context.

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)

 
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