KATHMANDU, March 20: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) is implementing a new rule of fixing the average pricing of shares for the purpose of opening price with the aim of preventing the possible manipulation in stock prices by big investors.
According to NEPSE, the opening price of the consecutive day will now be fixed based on the weighted average price of shares of the final 15 minutes of the previous trading day. The new rule will come into effect from Thursday.
The frontline regulator of the sector has enforced the rule in line with the fourth amendment to the Securities Transaction Bylaws 2025. With the new rule into effect, the weighted average price of shares of a particular listed company will be taken from the average of share prices fluctuating between 2:45 and 3:00 pm of every day, which will be considered as the final traded price of the particular day.
This final price will be taken as the opening price of the company’s shares for the consecutive trading day. Provided the listed companies do not witness their share trading on the particular day, the last traded price will be the opening price of shares for the following day.
As of now, the last traded price when the secondary market closes at 3:00 pm has been taken as the opening price of shares for the next day.
“Taking advantage of the rule, numbers of big investors have been found escalating the price of shares of their interest in the last minutes just to maintain an exorbitant price for next day trading,” said an official of the NEPSE. “This rule is expected to bring transparency and fairness to the stock market, potentially increasing investor confidence.”