Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) plunged 37.78 points to close at 1,580.03 points last week, as investors were put off from the sector’s announcement requiring investors to have a permanent account number (PAN) before investing. 

The secondary market that opened at 1,617.81 points on Sunday added up 4.51 points to close at 1,622.32 points. On Monday, the market slid 9.41 points to close at 1,612.91 points. Tuesday saw the market close due to a public holiday. When Nepse opened on Wednesday, the index shed 14.55 points. The index dropped another 18.33 points on Thursday. As a result, the overall market index declined 2.33 percent over the week. 

Ram Krishna Tiwari, managing director of Oxford Securities attributed the fall in Nepse index mainly to Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) making PAN mandatory for all investors in the stock market in a bid to maintain transparency of transactions. “Similarly, the market was influenced also by  the announcement made by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority to reassess the property earned by big market players,” Tiwari said. 

Tiwari also blamed the downfall to the flood that deluged large plots of land in the Tarai belt of the country. “In addition, investors were diverting their money towards making purchases for the upcoming Dashain and Tihar festivals,” said Tiwari.

The sensitive index that measures the performance of Group ‘A’ companies also declined 8.62 points to close at 331.32 points with a fall in index of commercial banks along with majority of other trading groups. 

With a fall in the market index, the average value of shares listed on the stock market also dropped Rs43.84 billion, with market capitalisation reaching Rs1,863.53 billion from Rs1,907.37 billion over the week. 

Of the nine trading groups, seven posted loss in their indices. Insurance lost 332.93 points, the largest loss this week, to close at 8,854.74 points. 

Hotels were the second largest loser on the list, with the group shedding 45.65 points to close at 2,380.43 points. It was followed by commercial banks (39.25 points), hydropower (34.36 points) and finance companies (26.03 points). Development banks and ‘others’ lost 9.45 points and 8.1 points respectively. 

Manufacturing was the only gainer over the review period. The group added up 71.09 points in the index to close at 2665 points. Trading was stable at 214.11 points throughout the week. 

Of the individual companies with the largest transaction amount, Chhimek Laghubitta Bikas Bank led the segment. The company witnessed Rs184.27 million in transaction during the week. Tiwari said the market was buoyed by the possibility that the microfinance company could issue attractive bonus shares as it had recently posted strong financial results. 

NIC Asia Bank, which saw Rs147.66 million worth of stock being traded, finished second. Likewise, Nepal Life Insurance, Nepal Bank Limited and Prime Life Insurance were also among the top five companies with largest turnover at the secondary market. 

NIC Asia Bank, topped the list in terms of number of transaction, with 326,000 unit shares exchanging hands. 

Last week, shares of 180 listed companies were traded. Despite a fall in Nepse, the transaction amount increased 7.4 percent to Rs3.56 billion. The traded number of shares declined to7,584,590 units from 14,830,880 units.