NEPSE Stabilises After Two-Day Decline

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index stabilised on Thursday, March 12, after declining for two consecutive trading days, rising 23.87 points, or 0.85 percent, to close at 2,820.44.

The benchmark index had fallen 1.11 percent on Tuesday and 1.64 percent on Wednesday following a sharp rally on Monday when the market reopened after the House of Representatives elections.

Investor optimism had surged as a landslide victory for the Rastriya Swatantra Party appeared increasingly certain. On Monday, the NEPSE index jumped 6 percent before trading was halted at noon for the rest of the day after the third positive circuit breaker was triggered.

The party has won 125 of the 165 first-past-the-post seats and is likely to secure 57 of the 110 proportional representation seats, although the Election Commission has yet to announce the final seat allocation.

Before the election break, the benchmark index had already been on a five-session winning streak, gaining 97.92 points.

Trading activity picked up on Thursday. Total turnover rose to Rs 14.55 billion, up from Rs 13.18 billion on Wednesday. Investors traded 41.69 million shares through 130,015 transactions.

All major indices ended the day higher. The Float Index climbed 0.99 percent, the Sensitive Index rose 1.04 percent, and the Sensitive Float Index increased 1.05 percent.

Among individual stocks, share prices of 176 companies increased, while 77 declined and nine remained unchanged.

Salapa Bikas Bank Limited (SABBL) and Reliance Spinning Mills Limited (RSML) were the biggest gainers, hitting upper circuit limit. Kumari Sabal Yojana (KSY) was the day’s biggest loser, falling 3.72 percent.

In terms of turnover, National Hydro Power Company Limited (NHPC) topped the list with Rs 677.94 million worth of shares traded. It was followed by Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited Promoter (HIDCLP) and Kumari Bank Limited (KBL).

Of the 13 major sectoral indices, three ended in negative territory. The Hotels and Tourism Index fell 0.35 percent, the Others Index declined 0.74 percent, and the Non-Life Insurance Index slipped 0.04 percent.

Among the gainers, the Banking Sub-Index led the rally with a 2.02 percent rise. It was followed by the Finance Index, up 1.30 percent, the Development Bank Index, which gained 1.28 percent, the Investment Index, which rose 1.14 percent, and the Hydropower Index, which increased 1.10 percent.

Market capitalisation increased to Rs 4,744.73 billion from Rs 4,704.56 billion the previous day, reflecting a cautiously optimistic sentiment.