Kathmandu, October 16
Nepal’s stock market rose for the seventh consecutive trading day on Friday, with banking stocks continuing to attract investors.
The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index gained 8.23 points to close at 2,634 points. The market has risen every trading day since October 8, recording a cumulative gain of 62 points over the seven sessions. On Thursday, the index had gained 4.56 points.
Trading turnover also increased slightly to Rs 4.88 billion on Friday from Rs 4.70 billion the previous day. Share prices of 174 companies rose, while 91 declined and 12 remained unchanged.
The banking sector made the largest contribution to the market’s growth, gaining 0.72 per cent, as investor interest in banking stocks remained strong.
Development banks rose 0.42 per cent, hotels and tourism 0.31 per cent, hydropower 0.52 per cent, life insurance 0.06 per cent, manufacturing and processing 0.15 per cent, and microfinance 0.53 per cent.
However, the trading sector fell 0.54 per cent, followed by other sectors (0.29 per cent), non-life insurance (0.14 per cent), investment (0.08 per cent) and finance (0.25 per cent).
Chirkhwa Hydropower led the gainers with a 14.82 per cent rise, followed by Beni Hydropower at 12.46 per cent and Shubham Power at 8.58 per cent.
Himalayan Everest Insurance fell 4.98 per cent, while Nepal Reinsurance declined 3.16 per cent.
Ghalemdi Hydropower recorded the highest turnover, followed by Nepal Investment Mega Bank, Green Ventures, Kumari Bank, Api Power, Himalayan Distillery and Sanima Middle Tamor.
