Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) on Sunday scaled its new all-time high, with the benchmark index nearing 1,600 points. The market also posted record daily transaction of Rs1.96 billion.

On Sunday, the Nepse jumped 31.26 to close at 1,597.96 points. The growth was led by commercial banks. A surge in the transaction of Nepal Bangladesh Bank shares pushed the commercial bank sub-index 47.47 points higher.

Nepal Bangladesh Bank has proposed issuing 80 percent rights shares, which boosted the demand for its shares, resulting in the transaction of Rs355.86 million on Sunday.

The capital market has been in bullish trend for the past few months,  mainly after the enforcement of the paperless system of share transaction on January 15. Last Thursday too, Nepse had set a new record of 1,566.70 points, posting highest single-day transaction of Rs1.89 billion.

In recent days, Nepse has been moving upwards due to growing investor attraction towards microfinance and insurance companies and commercial banks.

Stockbrokers have attributed the surge to plans to hike paid-up capital requirements for these institutions. Stock expert Hemanta Bashyal said investors are not assessing fundamentals of companies while taking investment decisions. “Small investors in particular have to be cautious while investing in stocks that are overpriced,” he said.

Apart from commercial banks, insurance, development banks, hotels, finance companies and others also witnessed an increase in their indices. Standard Chartered Bank, up 295 points, was the top gainer.