All major indices of Nepal’s secondary securities market declined during the trading week from April 6 to 10, reflecting heightened selling pressure ahead of the fiscal year’s third quarterly closure.
The benchmark Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index, which ended at 2,703.39 points last Thursday, fell by 1.21% to close at 2,670.70 points.
Market analysts attribute this decline primarily to the quarterly-end pressure, as many investors who had taken margin loans sold off shares to meet interest payment obligations. This added liquidity strain contributed to the market’s overall downturn. However, some observers remain cautiously optimistic, expecting a rebound in investor sentiment once the seasonal pressure eases.
Current fiscal year, 2024/25, ends in mid-July.
The Sensitive Index mirrored this trend, slipping by 0.9% over the week. Total transaction volume dropped by approximately 21%, while the number of traded shares decreased by 19.3%. Last week’s trading recorded over 52.18 million shares worth Rs 26.65 billion, whereas this week saw just over 42.11 million shares exchanged, totaling Rs 21.09 billion in value.
Daily trading activity also followed the same downward trajectory. The average daily transaction amount fell from Rs 6.66 billion to Rs 5.27 billion, and the average number of shares traded declined from more than 13.04 million to 10.53 million.
This market slump translated into a significant erosion of investor wealth, with Rs 49.29 billion wiped off the total market capitalization. The overall market cap dropped from approximately Rs 4.489 trillion at the close of last week to Rs 4.439 trillion this week—reflecting a 1.10% decrease.
Despite the broader downturn, a few sectoral indices bucked the trend. The Manufacturing and Processing sector rose by 0.61%, while the Mutual Fund and Hotels & Tourism sectors posted modest gains of 0.42% and 0.16%, respectively.
However, the majority of sectoral indices ended the week in negative territory. The Trading sector suffered the steepest loss, tumbling 2.94%. This was followed by Finance (-1.83%), Hydropower (-1.69%), Others (-1.55%), Banking (-1.41%), Life Insurance (-1.11%), Development Banks (-0.95%), Investment (-0.79%), Non-Life Insurance (-0.64%), and Microfinance (-0.52%).
