Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Shares worth Rs 49.51 billion were traded on the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) this week as the market posted strong gains in the first trading week following the recent parliamentary elections.
Trading took place for only four days this week as Sunday was a public holiday for International Women’s Day celebrations.
In the first trading week after the March 5 elections—where the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) secured a near two-thirds majority—the benchmark Nepse index rose by 107.95 points, or 3.98%.
The market recorded its biggest intra-day gain of 162.94 points on Monday, the first trading session after the election. Trading was halted within minutes as heavy buying pressure triggered multiple positive circuit breakers on that day.
A total of 131.59 million units changed hands during the week through 455,227 transactions.
The total market capitalisation also increased significantly, rising to Rs 4.744 trillion from Rs 4.56 trillion in the previous week.
All sectoral indices closed in positive territory during the week. The banking sub-index posted the highest gain of 5.73% percent compared to the previous week. The Hydropower and Investment sub-indices were next with gains of 5.66% and 4.56%, respectively.
Among individual companies, Salapa Bikas Bank emerged as the biggest gainer of the week. Its share price jumped by 34.15% to close at Rs 948.61 per unit on Thursday.
It was followed by Reliance Spinning Mills and National Hydropower Company Ltd with gains of 30.31% and 28.02%, respectively, to Rs 893.30 and Rs 290.10 per unit.
On the losing side, Trishuli Jalavidyut Company Ltd recorded the biggest decline of the week, with its share price falling by 5.68% to Rs 613 per unit. Similarly, mutual fund and corporate debenture schemes managed by NIMB Ace Capital and Everest Bank Ltd declined by 3.54 percent and 2.81 percent, respectively.
In terms of turnover, Ngadi Group Power Ltd topped the chart with shares worth Rs 1.92 billion traded during the four trading days. Next were Ridi Power Company Ltd and Ankhu Khola Jalavidyut Company, which recorded turnovers of Rs 1.86 billion and Rs 1.56 billion, respectively.
Three other scrips also recorded turnovers exceeding Rs 1 billion during the week.
