KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index halted its declining trend on Thursday, posting a gain of nearly nine points after continuous losses since the start of the week.
The benchmark index, which had dropped by 10.24 points on Sunday, 26.05 on Monday, 10.25 on Tuesday and 0.04 on Wednesday, rebounded by 8.97 points on Thursday to close at 2,671.07. The index had opened at 2,662.10 earlier in the day.
Alongside the index, daily turnover also saw a significant improvement, according to NEPSE.
Market sentiment appeared to improve after the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) issued the Margin Trading Facility Directive on Wednesday. The new provision allows investors to access margin trading services directly, eliminating the need to secure loans from banks separately before paying brokers. This has boosted investor confidence, with expectations of increased market participation and investment.
On Thursday, share prices of 139 companies advanced, while 115 declined. Six companies saw no change in their share prices.
Other sectoral indices also posted gains, including banking (4.75), development banks (66.80), finance (8.59), investment (0.65), life insurance (63.22), manufacturing and processing (55.04), and mutual funds (0.04).
However, hotel and tourism fell by 121.34 points, microfinance by 0.69, non-life insurance by 16.27, others by 6.21, and trading by 3.57 points.
A total of 337 companies were traded through 106,000 transactions, with 27.78 million shares changing hands worth Rs 11.10 billion.
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