Nepse at three-and-half months high

Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) ended in green for fourth straight day on Wednesday, gaining 1.64 points to close at a three-and-half months high of 547.61 points. The benchmark index had logged 548.4 points on March 14 before it took downward slide. Share analysts say Nepse index has been growing gradually due to hope among investors that listed companies will report better performance in fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year after couple of months. “As some companies reported better financial performance in the fourth quarter, investors are optimistic about better finance performance of other companies as well. This is helping Nepse index post gains,” Nanda Kishore Mundada, former president of Stock Brokers Association Nepal, told Republica. Mundada, however, said Nepse´s bull run will not continue for longer period. On Wednesday, all trading groups, except the Others Group, saw their sub-indices go up. The dominant Banking group saw its sub-index increase by 2.58 points to close at 542.14 points. Similarly, the sub-indices of Development Bank and Hydropower groups also went up by 1.19 points and 7.46 points, respectively to settle at 264.4 points and 1,250.78 points. Likewise, Finance and Insurance group also ended in green, gaining 2 points and 2.36 points to close at 266.56 points and 1,133.83 points, respectively. Others group, however, lost 3.52 points to close at 659.11 points. Total turnover was recorded at Rs 201.64 million on Wednesday, with 547,683 units of shares being traded through 2,123 transactions. Market capitalization -- total worth of shares listed in the secondary share market -- reached Rs 544.43 billion. Bank of Kathmandu, Asian Life Insurance Company Ltd, Arun Valley Hydropower Development Company Ltd, Agriculture Development Bank Ltd and Ace Development Bank Ltd were the top five companies in terms of transaction volume recorded on Wednesday.