KATHMANDU, March 21: Nepali currency appreciated against US dollar over the week, as the greenback shed value against Indian rupee with which Nepali rupee is pegged. The price of gold went up in the domestic this week following the heels of the international price movement, whereas Nepal Stock Exchange continued to cast bearish outlook, as investors showed low confidence in the market. [break]
Currency
Rupee appreciates, gold shines
Partially convertible Nepali currency gained Rs 2.10 vis-à-vis US dollar and closed at Rs 81.05 per dollar this week, as greenback depreciated against Indian currency with which Nepali rupee is pegged.
Nepal Rastra Bank, the monetary authority, had fixed the exchange rate of US dollar at Rs 83.15 on Sunday. But, the exchange rate consistently dropped as Nepali rupee gained value against the US dollar over the week. On Monday and Tuesday, exchange rate of US dollar was fixed at Rs 82.75, while on Thursday it further dropped to Rs 82.55 per dollar.
Nepali rupee weakened by Rs 1.93 against euro and closed at Rs 109.32 per euro on Friday. Nepali currency also weakened marginally by 0.09 paisa against pound sterling, which was exchanged at Rs 115.73 on Friday. As per the existing open-market exchange rate policy, rates quoted by different banks could differ.
Bullion
Gold price rose by Rs 17 per gram this week and closed at Rs 25,035 per 10 grams in the domestic market Friday. Dealers attributed the rise in price to the increment of gold prices in the international market.
According to Nepal Gold-Silver Dealers’ Association (NGSDA), gold was priced Rs 24,865 per 10 grams when trading opened on Sunday. While its price remained unchanged on Monday, gold price dropped over the next two days and was traded at Rs 24,650 per 10 grams on Wednesday. On Thursday, however, it gained Rs 130 per ten grams and on Friday further soared by Rs 255 per 10 grams before closing at Rs 25,035.
Likewise, the price of silver went up by Rs 6 and closed at Rs 351 per 10 grams this week. As Nepal fulfills bullion demand through international imports, any fluctuation in price of gold in the international market causes similar change in the domestic market.
Stock Market
Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index shed away 2.64 points and closed at 666.59 points on Thursday this week, as country’s secondary market failed to brighten up investors’ mood.
According to a NEPSE statement, 429,300 unit shares of 82 companies were traded at the NEPSE’s floor this week. The transactions totaled Rs 293.93 million, which was an increment of 6.40 percent over the transactions recorded last week. Last week, 638,700 shares were traded at NEPSE. Of the total transactions, turnover of category A companies alone valued at Rs 215 million. It was 73.28 percent of the total transactions.
Group-wise performance record shows commercial bank group index dropped 0.11 points during the week. Development bank, financial and insurance groups also recorded a drop of 41.56 points, 13.79 and 19.79 points in their indices. While the indices of manufacturing and trading groups remained unchanged, indices of hotels and hydropower groups increased by 5.82 points and 24.52 points respectively.
