At the same time, several investors purchased shares they perceived as a value proposition in a signal that the ongoing market rally may have more steam left in it.

‘The major sub-indices fell during the week, which pared the gains. But, overall, the sentiments remain upbeat,” a broker said.

The market participants say the fundamentals are strong and the share market may undergo a process of consolidation around the current levels in the weeks ahead before making another attempt at an upsurge. The sentiments got strengthened after the market breached the critical 1,300 level during the third week of the year.

The focus of investors since the beginning of 2020 appears to have shifted to stocks that can be held over the long-term and can generate good dividends.

The NEPSE index closed on Thursday at 1,333.69, up from 1,325.38 the previous week. The total turnover on Thursday fell to Rs 1,049,345,436 from Rs 1,966,219,749 the previous Thursday.

The total number of shares traded on the market, on Thursday, stood at 2,801,803. There were 13,137 transactions in all and as many as 175 company stocks got traded. At the end of the trading last week, the total market capitalisation stood at Rs1,701,040.41 million, up from Rs 1,690,451.32 million the previous week.

On Thursday, GLICL was the top traded stock in terms of value, while Civil Bank Ltd’s shares were the most traded by volume.

The market sentiments in recent weeks have been led by the biggest merger in Nepal’s banking sector between Global IME and Janata Bank, which got formalised in the last quarter of 2019.

Market participants cite the lack of liquidity as their biggest concern and the primary reason for the domestic stock market’s underperformance.