The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index, which opened on Monday at 523.41 points, fell to 519.06 points by Thursday -- the last trading day of the week, as investor confidence weakened due to the government´s failure to announce election date and conclusion of third quarter, when interest on loans acquired to purchase shares and second installment of income tax need to be paid.[break]
“There is confusion in the market as the government has been dragging its feet in announcing the date for the election. Many investors, who have sold shares to pay loan and income tax installments, are also waiting for the third quarter results to be published,” Stockbroker Nanda Kishore Mundada said.
Over the week, commercial banks were the major losers as share prices of most of the leading banks fell.
Nabil Bank, whose shares opened on Monday at Rs 1,845, fell to Rs 1,815 by Thursday. Shares of Standard Chartered Bank Nepal also lost Rs 57 over the week to close at Rs 1,820, while stocks of Everest Bank dipped to Rs 1,567 on Thursday from Monday´s opening of 1,593. Share prices of other leading banks, like Nepal Investment and Himalayan, also dipped over the week to close at Rs 764 and Rs 750, respectively, from weekly opening price of Rs 785 and 767.
As share prices of leading banks took a beating, the banking sub-index fell to 516.67 points on Thursday from Monday´s 525.09. Other sub-indices like Hydropower, insurance, finance companies and development bank also fell over the week due to selling pressure. However, ´others´ sub-index gained 3.52 points to 690.82 points on Thursday as shares of Nepal Telecom went up by Rs 3 to close the week at Rs 588.
Despite fall in the benchmark index, the share trading amount rose 21.23 percent over the week to Rs 366.68 million.
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