The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) slid 31.82 points to close at 1,178.5 points last week as investors were spooked by the ongoing bearish trend that shows no sign of reversing.

Along with Nepse, the average daily transaction amount also decreased to Rs235.50 million from Rs286.65 million in the previous week.   

The market index dropped throughout the trading days last week. The secondary market opened at 1,210.32 points on Sunday, and lost 14.03 points to close at 1,196.29 points. On Monday, the market lost 8.22 points to close at 1,188.07 points. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Nepse witnessed a decrease of 4.18 points, 1.47 points and 3.92 points respectively.

Consequently, the market closed with a loss of 2.62 percent in overall trading days during the review period. Stockbrokers attributed the fall in points in Nepse to the government’s failure to improve confidence among investors. “Despite a majority of the commercial banks reporting a good amount of profit in the last fiscal year, investors are still skeptical about government policy,” said a stockbroker under the condition of anonymity.

The sensitive index that measures the performance of Group ‘A’ companies also went down 6.39 points to close at 248.99 points. The entire list of companies, including commercial banks, landed in the red zone.  

Along with a fall in the market index, the average value of the shares listed in the stock market also dropped Rs38.13 billion, as market capitalisation fell to Rs1,402.03 billion from Rs1,440.16 billion.

This past week, the sub-index of trading was the only gainer, which added 2.95 points, while the remaining groups declined. Life insurance’s index dropped the largest, by 235.81 points. It closed at 5,566.03. Nepse of non-life insurance also posted a heavy loss, down 193.87 points. Manufacturing lost 82.5 points, microfinance lost 50.24 points, hotels lost 40.33 points, hydropower lost 39.38 points and development banks lost 37.4 points. Likewise, the index of commercial banks also dipped 27.02 points, finance companies dipped with 9.99 points and ‘others’ with 6.04 points.

Of the individual companies, NMB Bank led in terms of both transaction amount and the number of traded shares. There was a total turnover of 213,000 units of the bank’s shares worth Rs66.16 million during the review period.

Similarly, shares of Grameen Bikas Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha, worth Rs46.41 million, were transacted. NLG Insurance Company, promoters’ shares of Nepal Investment Bank and Global IME Bank were among the top five companies in the segment.

Last week, stocks of 185 listed companies were traded. Along with a fall in the market index, the transaction amount also declined by 17.84 percent to Rs1.17 billion. The traded number of shares also decreased to 4,421,950 units from 4,502,450 units.  

Right Shares/Bonus Shares

Company    Type    Units

Bhargav Bikas Bank    Right    2,112,000

Hamro Bikas Bank    Bonus    334,888

Siddhartha Bank Limited    Bonus    9,556,564.02

Mirmire Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha    Bonus    138,600

Himalayan Bank Limited    Bonus    16,229,059

Karnali Development Bank    Right    3,397,500

Suryodaya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha    Bonus    76,000

NMB Bank Limited    FPO    11,415,163

Nadep Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha    Primary    1,600,000

Mega Bank Nepal Limited    Bonus    9,986,951.53

Lumbini Bikas Bank     Right    1,646,442

Nepal Community Development Bank    Bonus    417,461.20