NEPSE Rises 0.88% After Two-Day Drop

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index closed higher on Thursday, October 9, the last trading day of the week, after Nepal Rastra Bank lifted the cap on margin lending.

The benchmark index rose 0.88% or 22.59 points to close at 2,582.18, snapping a two-day losing streak following declines of 1.74% on Wednesday and 2.19% on Tuesday, the first session after the Dashain holidays.

Trading was briefly halted for 20 minutes after the index jumped 4% within the first three minutes of the session, triggering a circuit breaker. NEPSE surged by 102.41 points to 2,662 before trading resumed at 11:23 a.m. The rally cooled afterward, and the market closed with modest gains.

Investor optimism surged after the central bank scrapped the Rs 250 million cap on margin loans per client, a move long demanded by market participants and recommended by a government taskforce on capital market reforms.

Before the circuit breaker was triggered, transactions worth Rs 275.6 million had been recorded.

Market turnover declined to Rs 5.27 billion from Rs 5.76 billion the previous session, with 11.83 million shares of 313 companies traded 56,321 times.

The Sensitive Index rose 1.08%, the Float Index 1.06%, and the Sensitive Float Index 1.11%.

Bindhyabasini Hydropower Development Company Ltd (BHDC) gained 8.21%, the day’s highest, followed by Asian Hydropower Ltd (AHL) up 5.54%. Three Star Hydropower Ltd (TSHL) fell 9.09%, the biggest decliner.

Shivam Cements Ltd (SHIVM) led in turnover at Rs 273.46 million, followed by Union Hydropower Ltd (UNHPL) at Rs 271.20 million and Himalayan Reinsurance Ltd (HRL) at Rs 209.31 million.

Of 13 sectoral indices, 12 advanced and one declined. The Investment Index gained the most, up 1.61%, while the Trading Index fell 1.48%. Banking, Development Bank, Finance, Life Insurance, and Manufacturing & Processing indices each rose more than 1%.

Total market capitalization increased to Rs 4,316.73 billion from Rs 4,278.96 billion a day earlier.