The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) declined by 62.01 points last week, continuing its bearish run despite reports that many listed companies—including most commercial banks—posted strong profits in the last fiscal year.
The secondary market has been on a downward trend for the past two weeks, shedding more than 135 points in total. Trading was limited to five days as the market remained closed on Sunday for Gai Jatra, a public holiday in Bagmati Province. NEPSE opened at 2,850.37 points on Monday and closed at 2,788.36 points on Thursday, fluctuating between a high of 2,875.45 and a low of 2,784.15, with a volatility of 91.3 points.
Last week, the index dropped 27.90 points on Monday, followed by further declines of 26.22 points on Tuesday and 10.50 points on Wednesday. On Thursday, it made a minor recovery of 2.62 points.
Out of 13 sectoral indices, only the Others Index gained (up 1.51%). The steepest losses came from Microfinance (-4.15%), Finance (-3.27%), and Hydropower (-3.17%).
Among individual companies, City Hotel Limited recorded the sharpest fall, dropping 36.51%, while Nepal Republic Media Limited posted the highest gain at 14.57%. Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited saw the largest share transaction volume, with trades worth Rs 1.28 billion.
Market turnover also declined significantly to Rs 30.75 billion from Rs 49.40 billion the previous week, while average daily turnover dropped to Rs 7.68 billion from Rs 9.88 billion.
Alongside the NEPSE index, market capitalization shrank to Rs 4.656 trillion from Rs 4.757 trillion, wiping out Rs 101 billion from investors’ portfolios. Over the past two weeks combined, investors have endured losses of around Rs 220 billion.
