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NEPSE in April & Early May
BY Rabindra Bhattarai
NEPSE gained 9.95 points during the month of April. Though substantial, it was lower than the 18.37 points gain during March. The market opened with the index at 284.34 on April first and reached 294.29 at the end of the month. The index remained bullish during almost the entire month and fewer fluctuations were observed. The only exception was April 19 when it turned slightly bearish because of the Nepal SBI Bank book closure for right issue.
The commercial banks, a market-dominating sector, are bringing out their performance reports for the third quarter and most of the reports show an increasing trend in their operating performance. Therefore, the market index during the month of May is expected to touch 300 points. It had already reached 298.78 early May, but later declined to 288.89 due to the right issue of Nepal Investment Bank. But when this report was going to press, the index was again in an increasing trend.
Trading days of April |
Though the NEPSE index did not see much fluctuation in April, many ups and downs were seen in the share prices of different companies. The news of the new chief executive officer (CEO) appointed in the Nepal Bangladesh Bank Ltd. dragged the market price of this company’s shares up to Rs. 319. Before that, the share price of the bank was hovering between Rs. 255 to Rs. 265 for a long time. However, it turned bearish after reaching Rs. 319, because of the over supply.
A similar movement was observed in the share price of the Lumbini Bank Ltd. (LBL) as well. Bids invited by Lalitpur Finance Ltd. (LFL) to sell bulk shares – 300,000 units – of LBL held by LFL brought a fluctuation in the price of the shares. The maximum price of the LBL was Rs. 225 in April from where it fell to Rs. 202 though it went up again. This bank’s price, however, remained stagnant for a long time due to the confusion about the types of the shares (promoters’ or general publics’) that were being sold by Lalitpur Finance.
Another notable movement was in the share price of Nepal Investment Bank which crossed Rs. 1,400 in April. As the book closure date for the 1:1 right issue by this bank neared, its share price moved up to meet Rs 1,400 on 28 April from Rs. 1,281 on April 1.
A similar notable movement was in the share price of Himalayan Bank Ltd. The bank was late to hold its AGM due to some requirements made by the NRB. As was learnt, the NRB was prohibiting the bank from distributing dividend and the bank management was feeling uneasy to go to the AGM without any proposal to reward for the shareholders. Finally, the AGM notice was issued with a proposal to distribute bonus shares. This pushed the share price of the bank to Rs.1,100 on April 28 from Rs.1,025 on April 1.
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