Nepse down 23.81 points as new budget fails to elate investors

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index fell by 23.81 points to close at 2,089.42 on Wednesday as the new budget failed to cheer investors.

Minister for Finance Basha Man Pun presented the budget for the fiscal year 2024/25, which begins in mid-July, in the joint session of the federal parliament on Tuesday. The government has proposed spending Rs 1,860.31 billion in the next fiscal year.

Share prices of 191 companies declined on the day while 56 advanced. Despite the market gloom, share prices of four companies hit the positive circuit of 10%. Out of 13 trading groups, four recorded growth, while eight ended the session in the red, and one remained unchanged. The biggest loss came from the market-heavyweight Banking sub-index, which was down by 2.94%. The Manufacturing & Processing sub-index, on the other hand, posted the highest gain of 2.68%.

Pokhara Finance Ltd logged the highest turnover of the session with Rs 195.21 million worth of shares traded. Next were CEDB Hydropower Company Ltd and Sarbottam Cement with turnovers of Rs 192.72 million and Rs 141.05 million, respectively.

Shares worth Rs 4.57 billion changed hands on the secondary market on Wednesday through 63,080 transactions.