KATHMANDU: The NEPSE index jumped by 18% in the past 14 trading days. On July 1, the index stood at 2,053.38 points, but by July 18 (the week’s last trading day), it had climbed to 2,424.32 points.
On the midnight of July 1, two major parties in Parliament, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, reached an agreement on power sharing, and the stock market began to rise the following day. NEPSE index, which started increasing due to rumors that Bishnu Prasad Paudel would be the finance minister in the new government, has decreased only on two trading days since then.
After Poudel was appointed as the Finance Minister, the NEPSE increased by 70 points in just one day on Tuesday (July 16). Even after that, the NEPSE, which has seen continuous gains, peaked at 2,424.32 points last Thursday, the highest in 27 months.
Finance Minister Paudel is known as a stock market-friendly finance minister. Paudel himself was the finance minister when NEPSE set its all-time high record twice before.
10 companies’ shares fall below Rs 200  
Currently, out of companies listed on NEPSE, the share prices of 10 companies are below Rs 200 per share. This group includes three commercial banks, six hydropower companies, and one company from another sector.
The cheapest stock among them is of Himal Dolakha Hydropower Company, with a share price of Rs 166.2. Kumari Bank follows with a share price of Rs 178.1, and National Hydropower shares are priced at Rs 179.  
Other compaies in this range include Ghalemdi Hydro at Rs 182 per share, Upper Tamakoshi at Rs 188.6, Prabhu Bank at Rs 190, Shivashree Hydropower at Rs 192, and Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company at Rs 193. Ankhu Khola Hydropower's share stands at Rs 196, and Nepal Investment Mega Bank's shares are priced at Rs 199.1.