Nepse below 700 points

The stock index has plunged below 700 points on heavy profit booking by investors.

The Nepse index shed 4.32 points — 0.61 per cent — on today’s trading and by closing time it rested at 699.84 points. Last week, share prices had surged pushing the index past 700 points to a 51-month high after the results of the Constituent Assembly election were announced.

However, investors started to liquidate shares to take advantage of the increased share prices that pushed the prices down. Moreover, recent book closure of the scrip such as Nabil Bank and major development banks also led to investors offering lower price for their shares.

Since last Wednesday — a day after the final election results were announced — the index had crossed 700 points. The election result showed business-friendly parties on the lead which boosted investor confidence. Moreover, the ongoing surplus liquidity situation that further made the availability of bank finance for share purchase easier also boosted the market.

Today, except for finance companies, the rest of the subgroups ended up in the red. Insurance was the biggest loser of the day as Asian Life Insurance, PrimeLife Insurance, NLG Insurance and Sagarmatha Insurance lost Rs 34, Rs 62, Rs 45 and Rs 65, respectively, among others.

The biggest gainer of the day was Shree Investment Finance that saw its price increase by Rs 35 per unit which helped the finance subgroup gain 1.28 points.

The stock exchange’s trading floor saw trading of 1.05 million unit shares worth Rs 309 million of 122 companies traded in 2873 transactions. The market capitalisation of the day stood at Rs 710 billion.

Source: The Himalayan Times, 11 Dec 2013