Nepal Stock Exchange

KATHMANDU: After 14 months, Nepse has surged over 400 points as the market is flush with buyers after a long interval.

The benchmark index reached 409.41 points after gaining 21.07 per cent today. Soaring stock prices called for the operation of the circuit breaker thrice today –– the third circuit breaker halted trading prematurely after one o’clock.

In mid-February last year, the index had plunged below 400 points that was considered to be a psychological point by analysts. The plunge below 400 points had sent investors panicking for the rest of the year even pushing it to 292 points in June 2011.

Before hitting 400 points in February, the index had gone below 400 points in December 2010 but had recovered within a week.

The ongoing price rise has pushed market capitalisation up by Rs 20 billion in a single day. Yesterday’s market capitalisation stood at Rs 366 billion which at the end of trading today exceeded Rs 386 billion. The market supposedly is being directed by small individual investors rather than large institutional ones.

“The calculations show that if current rally crosses over 450 points then the market will hit a new high,” said general secretary of Nepal Stock Investors’ Association Prakash Rajaure. In about one hour of trading, Standard Chartered Bank was highest earner by earning Rs 198 per unit share — up by 10 per cent.

The maximum number of shares traded belonged to Bank of Kathmandu with a turnover worth Rs 13.4 million. The bank’s 19,326 unit shares were traded in 58 transactions.

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