Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) last week jumped 21.94 points to close at yet another record high of 1,499.32 points.

The market that opened at 1,477.38 points on Sunday fell 9.87 points on Monday before posting gains for rest of the week. The week’s largest single-day gain came on Tuesday when the index rose 16.17 points.

Stockbrokers attributed the rise to excess liquidity with banks, good returns on investment offered by a number of companies and reduced chances of immediate government change.

Bhuwaneshwor Yadav, managing director of Agrawal Securities, said lack of alternative areas of investment at the time of excess liquidity with banks helped the market grow. He said political developments in recent days also attracted more investors towards the market. “In addition, Madhesh-based political parties’ announcement to continue their protest ‘peacefully’ contributed to the rise,” he said. 

Anjan Raj Poudel, managing director of Thrive Brokerage House, echoed Yadav. He said regulators’ plans to hike paid-up capital requirements, especially of microfinance and insurance companies, boosted investor confidence.

Of the nine trading groups, six posted gains. The insurance group (up 154.23 points) led the gainers’ side including commercial banks, development banks, hydropower, hotels and finance companies. Last week’s losers were manufacturing (down 65.79 points) and others (down 11.75 points). The trading group was stable at 201.38 points. 

The sensitive index that measures the performance of ‘A’ class companies rose 4.95 points to 324.44.

Despite surge in the index, the transaction volume, however, dipped 18.69 percent to Rs4.29 billion. The number of shares traded also fell to 6,961,570 units from 8,414,470.

National Life Insurance Company posted the highest transaction of Rs333.32 million. It was followed by Nepal Bangladesh Bank, Prabhu Insurance, Sanima Bank and Nepal Bank.

Nabil Balanced Fund 1, with 431,000 units of its shares changing hands, topped in terms of the traded number of shares traded.