KATHMANDU, Sept 16: Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index gained 10.65 points this week to close at 1,530.31 points on Thursday-the last trading day of the week. 

The market remained highly volatile this week as the benchmark index, which was going down in the initial trading days, rallied at the end of the week. 

The Nepse index plunged 34.89 points on the first trading days. Though it rallied by gaining 3 points on the next trading day, it tanked 30 points in the remaining two trading days only to rebound 37.11 points on the last trading day of the week. 

 Some observers say that the stock prices fell at the beginning of the week amid fears that the prices would fall further. “Fear among investors was driving stocks down. They were scrambling to off load shares before the bear market starts so that they can buy the stocks later on at lower price,” an investor told Republica.

Most of the trading groups ended in the green zone this week. Insurance group registered the biggest gain of 154.14 points to close at 8,515.83 points. Hotels group followed suit, as its sub-index went up by 47.37 points to settle at 2,374.09 points.

Manufacturing and Processing, and Finance sub-indices gained 42.17 points and 18.3 points, respectively, to end the week at 2,592.32 points and 1,762.98 points. Hydropower sub-index gained 18.3 points to close at 1,762.98 points. Trading group also posted a gain of 17.14 points to end the week at 231.25 points. Banking, the heavyweight trading group in the secondary market, closed 6.18 points higher at 1,316.7 points. 'Others' group also went up 5.78 points to 718.99 points.

Development Bank sub-index, however, shed 18.88 points to close at 1,917.43 points. 
Rights shares of Mirmire Microcredit Development Bank Ltd, Hamro Bikas Bank Ltd and Swarojgar Laghubitta Bikas Bank Limited were listed in the stock market for trading this week. 

A total of 6.8 million units of shares of 177 companies worth Rs 3.62 billion were traded in the market this week through 35,844 transactions. The turnover is 55.8 percent higher compared to last week. 

Nabil Bank Ltd remained at the top of listed companies in terms of turnover (Rs 191.4 million), while Nepal Bank Ltd (Promoter) was at the top in terms of number of shares traded (354,000 units). Himalayan Power Partner Ltd led the table of listed companies in terms of number of transactions (1,947).

Nepse issues 
new directive on 
market-sensitive info
Nepse has instructed listed companies to send information sensitive for securities market in a clearer way. 

Issuing a letter to listed companies on Friday, Nepse instructed them to notify it about book closure in a clearer way by including details of benefit distribution in both numeric and words in a format prescribed by it. 

This new format on dividend announcement will leave less room for repeat of such mistake in the days to come, according to Nepse officials. 

The latest measure of the Nepse comes in the wake of recent incident related to wrong disclosure of the dividend announcement by Nepal Investment Bank Ltd (NIBL). On September 6, the commercial bank had sent an official letter, stating that its board of directors proposed 25 percent of stock dividend and 15 percent cash dividend from the profit of the last fiscal year 2016/17.

However, it corrected the dividend figures after an hour by sending another letter to the Nepse within an hour. 

The bank attributed the mistake on the dividend figure to 'typing error'. 
Trading of all shares of NIBL of that day was cancelled by the Nepse on the order of Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon).

 
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