Nepse tanks 145.05 points; turnover hits record Rs 23.71 billion

KATHMANDU: Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) tanked 145.05 points to settle at 2,651.32 points on Tuesday.

Although the benchmark index logged gains in the pre-opening session and briefly breached the psychological 2,800-point level, it made a freefall as the day progressed and eventually ended the session 5.18% lower.

Stock analysts say the benchmark index came down as investors booked profit after significant gains over the past few sessions. Dharmaraj Sapkota, the president of Stock Broker Association of Nepal, said the benchmark index went down on Tuesday even though all the indicators were positive. “Because of the political development in Bangladesh, rumors circulated on social media about similar problems potentially arising in Nepal. This speculation had an impact on the stock market,” Sapkota added.

Share prices of 233 companies fell on the day, while eight advanced and one remained unchanged. Himalayan Reinsurance Ltd logged the highest turnover of Rs 1.39 billion on Tuesday. Next were Nepal Reinsurance Company Ltd and CEDB Hydropower Development Company with turnovers of Rs 483.63 million and Rs 43.83 million, respectively.

All the trading groups ended the session in the red. The biggest loss came from the Finance sub-index, which was down by 8.27%. Hotels & Tourism and Investment sub-indices were next with losses of 8.03% and 6.38%, respectively. Out of 13 trading groups on the bourse, eight logged losses of more than 5%.

Even though the benchmark index posted a loss, daily turnover increased to a record high of Rs 23.71 billion on Tuesday. A total of 53.84 million units of shares were traded on the secondary market through 271,587 transactions.