Rupee gains, gold and NEPSE drop

KATHMANDU, April 4: Nepali currency appreciated against US dollar over the week, as the greenback fell against Indian rupee with which Nepali rupee is pegged. The price of gold also slid sharply in the domestic market, while gloom continued to reign in the Nepal Stock Exchange, country’s sole secondary market. [break]

Currency

Partially convertible Nepali currency gained 45 paisa vis-à-vis the US dollar and closed at Rs 80.85 per dollar over the week, as greenback weakened against Indian currency.

Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank, had fixed the exchange rate of US dollar at Rs 81.30 on Sunday. The exchange rate rose as US dollar continued to gain over the next two days. On Monday, exchange rate of US dollar was fixed at Rs 81.35 and on Tuesday it touched 82.20 per dollar. However, the rate started to recede for the remaining days of the week and a dollar was fixed at Rs 80.85 on Friday.

Nepali rupee strengthened by Rs 2.91 against the euro and closed at Rs 107.37 per euro on Friday. It, however, weakened by 22 paisa against pound sterling, which was exchanged at Rs 117.61 on Friday. As per the existing open-market exchange rate policy, rates quoted by different banks could differ.

Bullion

Gold price dropped Rs 60 per gram this week and closed at Rs 24,005 per 10 grams in the domestic market Friday. Dealers attributed the drop to the decline in the price of gold in the international market.

According to Nepal Gold-Silver Dealers´ Association (NGSDA), gold was priced Rs 24,605 per 10 grams when trading opened Sunday. While the price jumped to Rs 24,735 Monday, the price receded to Rs 24,605 Tuesday and remained at that level for three days. On Friday, it dropped further and closed at Rs 24,005.

The silver closed at Rs 258.50 per 10 grams, down from Rs 361 per 10 grams of Sunday this week. As Nepal fulfills bullion demand through international imports, any fluctuation in the price of gold in the international market affects the domestic market.

Stock Market

Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index shed 7.78 points and closed at 661.96 points Wednesday this week, as country’s secondary market failed to lure investors.

According to a NEPSE statement, 338,900 units of shares of 94 companies were traded on the NEPSE floor this week. The transactions totaled to Rs 267.22 million, which was a drop of 4.38 percent against the transactions recorded last week. Last week, 330,100 units of shares were traded at NEPSE. Of the total transactions, turnover of category A companies alone valued at Rs 180.3 million. It was 67.49 percent of the total transactions.

Group-wise performance record shows commercial bank group index recorded a drop of 5.28 points over the week. Indices of hydropower and others group also dropped. Unlike in the past few weeks, development bank, finance and insurance groups witnessed a rise in their indices this week. Indices of manufacturing, hotels and trading also rose.