KATHMANDU, Jan 16: A notable drop in the share prices of the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) pulled Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) down by 7.33 points on Thursday.
The banking index lost 10.17 points and that of development banks went down 48.17 points. Similarly, the finance index and microfinance index also shedded 144.61 points and 27.13 points, respectively.
The BFIs’ performance in the secondary market was compromised largely by the recently unveiled anomalies occurring in the segment. While the commercial banks’ have come up to offer lower dividends than before, a number of development banks and finance companies are under radar of the central bank, which accuses them of manipulating their financial reports, say stockbrokers.
Nepse posts weekly loss of 73 points despite mid-week recovery
In the intraday trading, the overall NEPSE index that opened at 2,595.96 points, rose to the day’s high at 2,616.65 points in the first 20 minutes of trading. The index went downhill and reached the day’s low at 2,580.79 points in the last seven minutes before it closed at 2,588.62 points.
The sensitive index which measures the performance of ‘A’ class companies also declined by 2.39 points. The daily turnover slightly increased to Rs 5.93 billion from Rs 5.82 billion on Wednesday.
Along with the BFIs, four other groups including life insurance, hotels and tourism, non-life insurance and investment were losers. The trading index surged by the largest of 88.26 points.
Among the individual companies, 89 were gainers while 151 were registered as losers. Sindhu Bikash Bank had the biggest turnover of its shares worth Rs 285.72 million.
Pokhara Finance was the topmost loser, while Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) Limited, Wean Nepal Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited and Mandakini Hydropower Limited were recorded as the biggest gainers, adding 10 percent to their market values.
