Abstract
This study empirically examines the macroeconomic factors influencing the stock market’s performance in Nepal. It considers the annual data of four macroeconomic variables; real GDP, inflation, interest rate, and broad money supply from 1994 to 2016, and attempts to reveal the relative influence of these variables on stock prices represented by the ‘NEPSE Index’ of the Nepalese capital market. In pursuance of this, it analyzes the cointegrating relationship between stock prices and macroeconomic variables. Empirical results obtained from OLS estimations reveal that the performance of the stock market is found to respond positively to real GDP, inflation, and the money supply and negatively to interest rates. More importantly, cointegrating evidence cannot be found between macroeconomic variables and the stock market index, which suggests that stock price movements in Nepal are not explained by macroeconomic variables. It supports the random walk hypothesis in the Nepali capital market. These findings help to design policies to stabilize or stimulate the capital market in Nepal. READ MORE>>>