NEPSE Suffers Sharp Drop, Falls Below 2,900

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index fell 2.18% Sunday, August 3, closing in the red for the third consecutive trading day. Losing 63.73 points, the index settled at 2,858.90.

Last Tuesday, July 29, it had hit a four-year high of 3,002.07, following sustained upward momentum driven by the monetary policy announced on July 11, which prioritised the share market and real estate sectors. Since then, the index has declined—by 1.59% on Wednesday and 1.06% on Thursday, the final trading day of the week.

Over the last 16 trading days, the index has closed lower five times.

NEPSE’s all-time high of 3,198.60 points was recorded on August 18, 2021, with an intraday peak of 3,220.33 points.

Turnover also weakened on the first trading day of the week, with total trading volume dropping to Rs 13.07 billion from Rs 15.98 billion the previous day.

Of the 249 listed companies traded, only 16 advanced while the rest declined.

The Sensitive Index fell 2.07%, the Float Index 2.10%, and the Sensitive Float Index 2.05%.

Trade Tower Limited (TTL) and Shiva Shree Hydropower Ltd (SSHL) both gained 9.99%. The last traded prices of TTL, a newly listed company, and SSHL were Rs 1,148 and Rs 212.10, respectively.

Sanvi Energy Limited (SANVI) led the losers, falling 9.99% to Rs 802.40 per share. Samata Gharelu Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SMATA) followed with a 9.96% drop, closing at Rs 1,072.80 per share.

Nepal Reinsurance Company Ltd (NRIC) topped the turnover chart with Rs 753.96 million in transactions. Himalayan Reinsurance Ltd (HRL) and Himalayan Distillery Ltd (HDL) followed with Rs 715.56 million and Rs 588.28 million, respectively.

All 13 sectoral indices ended in the red, with the Others Index falling the most at 3.48%, followed by Microfinance, down 3.05%. The Mutual Fund Index declined the least, 1%.

Total market capitalisation dropped to Rs 4,772 billion from Rs 4,876.91 billion the previous day.

Some market analysts said the downturn was a natural correction following the sharp rally, fuelled by NRB’s monetary policy, which included higher lending limits for individual margin loans among other changes.

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