Kathmandu, June 24: Nepal’s stock market witnessed a dramatic increase in overall trading of shares in terms of value last week. Analysts have attributed the surge particularly to the increase in trading of shares of Bank of Kathmandu Ltd.

The NEPSE index, according to Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd., did not post a major change. The NEPSE that figured 338.46 on the first day of the week came 338.10 on the concluding day of the week.

The indices were 339.02, 338.48 and 338.21 on the second, third and fourth days of the week, respectively.

During the week ending June 23, 2000, altogether 1,35,176 units of shares were traded for Rs. 89,757,798, according to the report received from Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd.

In the week preceding to it, 57,105 units of shares worth Rs. 20,414,099 were traded on the NEPSE floor.

Among the traded companies, Bank of Kathmandu registered the highest amount of trading in terms of total share value. Altogether 102,160 units of shares of Bank of Kathmandu worth Rs. 76,203,350 were traded last week. In the previous week too, Bank of Kathmandu topped the transaction list with 10,600 units of shares traded for Rs. 9,049,780.

So far as the group-wise trading of shares was concerned, the commercial banks group repeated its feat registering the biggest share of transaction. A total of 113,714 units of shares belonging to the bank sector was traded for Rs 85,199,843 (94.95 per cent). The transaction of banking sector was followed by that of finance companies group with a transaction of 8,603 units of shares worth Rs. 2,324,447 (2.59 per cent).

According to Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd., even though securities of 55 listed companies were registered for transaction on the floor of Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd. last week, securities of only 42 listed companies were traded.