Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) last week jumped 44.02 points to close at 1666.29. The market fell 7.17 points

on Monday, but posted gains for rest of the week.

Of the nine trading groups, seven posted gains. The insurance sector (up 319.03 points) led the gainers side, including hydropower, commercial banks, manufacturing, hotels, development banks and finance companies. The only loser was the others sector—down 1.17 points. The trading group was non-mover.

The sensitive index, which measures the performance of ‘A’ class companies, jumped 9.4 to close at 359.39 points.

Stockbrokers attributed the rise

to the government’s decision to roll back the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia), paving the

way for fresh parliamentary discussions, and growing investments in the insurance sector.

“The decision to overturn Bafia and plans to hike paid-up capital requirements in the insurance sector are the major factors which came into play,” said Bhuwaneshwor Yadav, managing director of Agrawal securities. “Demand and supply both have increased amid increasing number of investors in the insurance sector.”

Yadav, however, said small investors might face losses in the long run as many insurance companies will

not be able to provide returns as per expectations. But investors are tapping the opportunities and are leaving the market after booking profits in the short run. Lumbini General Insurance observed the highest transaction of Rs439.4 million. Siddhartha Equity and Oriented Scheme led the chart in terms of the highest number of scrip traded (1.6million).

Five companies—Nepal Insurance, Laxmi Finance, Rural Microfinance, Premier Insurance and Sidhhartha Development Bank—listed bonus shares during the review period. However, the transaction volume

fell by 15.76 percent to Rs7.82 billion from Rs9.30 billion. The total number of scrip traded also fell from 1.52 million to 1.10 million.

Of the nine trading groups, seven posted gains. The insurance

sector—up 319.03 points—led the gainers side'