Stocks fell slightly in the firsttrading hour on Wednesday but began trimming losses around mid-day. Overall,the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) Index vacillated between positive and negativeterritories before ending marginally higher. The index finished the day 0.23percent higher at 1,242.07 points.

On the day, trading activityappeared largely subdued as the market continued to show a lack of direction.Turnover also dropped to the month's low of Rs. 214 million. The lacklusterperformance of Nepse came as investors were looking ahead to monetary policyannouncements.

Most of the sub-indices ended theday showing modest moves contributing to the bland trading session. Allsub-indices gained except the Others Sub-Index. Hotels Sub-Index rose the mostby 0.95 percent. Hydropower sector also edged up 0.55 percent. Sub-Indices ofDevelopment Bank, Finance and Microfinance followed suit.

Shares of Grameen BikasLaghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd led the list of active stocks with a totaltransaction of over Rs. 14 million. Likewise, shares of Mega Bank Ltd and NepalLife Insurance Company Ltd logged in turnovers of over Rs. 13 million each.Nabil Bank Ltd (Promoter Share) and Nepal Telecom Ltd were the other activestocks.

In terms of advances, shares ofRadhiBidyut Company Ltd extended gains for a third consecutive day. Its shareprice rallied almost 10 percent on Wednesday. Nepal Hydro Developers Ltd alsosaw its share price surged by 9.50 percent. Shares of Grameen Bikas LaghubittaBittiya Sanstha Ltd, Arun Valley Hydropower Development Co Ltd and Sindhu BikasBank Ltd added 7.12 percent, 5.06 percent and 4.55 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, shares ofKarnali Development Bank Ltd led losses dropping over 7 percent. Further, stockprice of Ngadi Group Power Ltd corrected 4.49 percent. Subsequently,MahilaSahayatra Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Shrijana Finance Ltddeclined over 3 percent each.

NMB Bank Ltd has commenced theissue of over 11 million unit shares in its further public offering (FPO). TheFPO is being issued with a premium of Rs. 233 over the par value of Rs. 100 pershare. After the issue, the bank's capital will reach Rs. 7.6 billion, which isstill short of the Rs. 8 billion capital requirement mark.

Furthermore, Mega Bank Ltd hasamended the earlier bonus proposals made by the bank itself and TourismDevelopment Bank Ltd separately before the merger. The merged bank has nowannounced 10.75 percent bonus shares to its shareholders.

According to the ARKS technicalanalysis, a minor bullish candle is observed in the daily timeframe as themarket is trending range bound. Hence, the chart clearly indicatesinconclusiveness prevailing at the current juncture. Furthermore, majorindicators like Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving AverageConvergence/Divergence also imply lack of momentum in the equity market.

Source:The Himalayan Times, 14^th June 2018