KATHMANDU, Feb 18: Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) last week lost 112.22 points due to the impact of the midterm review of monetary policy and the annual budget that posted a dismal picture of the economy.

The secondary market opened at 2,182.63 points on Sunday. In the four-day trading period, with the government declaring a public holiday on Monday, the market closed at 2,070.41 points on Thursday. During the trading days, the market went as high as 2,181.20 points, while the index hit as low as 2,067.41 points. Overall, the market witnessed fluctuations of 113.79 points.

According to the stockbrokers, the market sustained combined effects of midterm review of monetary policy by Nepal Rastra Bank and recently revised annual budget by the government. While the monetary policy could not bring in notable measures to reduce the exorbitant interest rates, the revised annual budget cut off the government’s earmarked expenditure, which posts the poor performance of the economy, said the stockbrokers.

The market went into a downturn in all the four trading days. The secondary market dropped by a whopping 60.77 points on Sunday, followed by a drop of 16.40 points on Tuesday. The index fell 13.90 points and 21.15 points on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

All the 13 trading groups lost in their average share prices last week. Life insurance had a free fall of 702.99 points, along with seven other trading groups, which lost three-digit points.

Total turnover declined to Rs 8.25 billion from Rs 12.52 billion in the previous week. The average daily turnover also fell 18 percent to Rs 2.063 billion. Market capitalization also declined from Rs 3.149 trillion to Rs 2.987 trillion. 

Among individual companies, Himalayan Distillery Limited had the largest transaction of its shares worth Rs 313.01 million. Upakar Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha was the topmost loser. Likewise, Sanima Large Cap Fund gained the highest percent in its market price.

 
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