KATHMANDU, July 5: The secondary market opened on a slightly positive note in the first trading hour on Thursday. However, stocks came under constant pressure in the latter trading session. A steady decline in the remaining session saw the benchmark index shed 8.27 points to close the last trading day of the week at 1,260.47 points.
Nepse has failed to add to its gains and has closed in 1,250 - 1,270 range over the past few days. Likewise, the total turnover remained relatively low as Rs 670 million worth of shares changed hands in the day.
All the sectors closed the week in red. Biggest losses came from Non-Life Insurance, Hotels and Hydropower segments as their sub-indices were down by 1.2%, 1.15% and 1.04%, respectively. Further, Life Insurance, Others, Banking and Finance sub-indices also registered losses of 0.88%, 0.78%, 0.58% and 0.54% respectively. Microfinance, Mutual fund, Development Bank and Manufacturing & Processing sub-indices also posted meager losses.
Market sentiment still bearish as Nepse ends week 21 points low...
Units of Siddhartha Equity Oriented Scheme were traded actively on the day with total transactions of Rs 55 million. Similarly, Prabhu Bank Ltd, Nepal Bank Ltd and Nepal Doorsanschar Company Ltd also logged transactions of Rs 55 million, Rs 47 million and Rs 38 million, respectively. Likewise, Mega Bank Nepal Ltd and Premier Insurance Company Ltd also posted turnovers of over Rs 31 million each. Civil Bank Ltd, Janata Bank Nepal Ltd and Century Commercial Bank Ltd were other actively stocks of the day.
Microfinance stocks continued to dominate the major advances as share price of Suryodaya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd rallied for second consecutive day as its shares price shot up by almost 10%. Next on the list were Summit Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Swabhimaan Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd which saw their share prices jump by over 9% each. Share prices of Mahila Sahayatra Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Support Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd climbed up by over 6.49% and 4.21% correspondingly. Share prices of City Express Finance Co Ltd, Nepal Agro Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and World Merchant Banking & Finance Ltd also appreciated.
In contrast, Union Hydropower Ltd recorded the biggest loss of the day as its share price fell by 6.55%. Similarly, Prudential Insurance Co Ltd and Rastriya Beema Company Ltd Promoter Share price tanked 5.61% and 4.16%, respectively. Share prices of Swadeshi Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Best Finance company Ltd were also down by over 3% each.
On announcement front, Ghodighoda Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd is launching 124,590 units of Initial Public Offering (IPO) shares from July 5. The closing date for the IPO is July 10.
As per the ARKS technical analysis, the Nepse index has formed a bearish candlestick on the daily timeframe by erasing its previous day gains. Consequently, the index has continued to trade range bound in the crucial 1,250-1,270 points range. Hence, the breakout and close outside of this range with significant volume might indicate the possible direction of the index.
