Rupee weakens, gold drops, NEPSE tumbles

KATHMANDU, Jan 16: Nepal’s currency weakened nominally vis-a-vis the US dollar over the week, as the Indian rupee, to which our currency is pegged, weakened amid rising demand for dollar. Weakening investor confidence continued to push the stock market down, and the price of gold also went down in the domestic market over the week, shows data of the Nepal Gold-Silver Dealers Association. [break]

Currency

The partially convertible Nepali rupee weakened by a nominal 0.15 paisa against the US dollar over the week, settling at Rs 78.70 per dollar.

Nepal Rastra Bank, the country’s central bank, had fixed the dollar’s selling rate at Rs 78.55 on Sunday, but the rupee appreciated against the greenback, the rate closing at Rs 78.70 on Friday.

The rupee gained Rs 2.93 against the Euro, and closed at Rs 104.47 per Euro (€). The domestic currency strengthened against the Pound Sterling (£) by Rs 4.13 over the period to settle at Rs 115.53 per Pound. As per the existing open-market exchange rate policy, rates quoted by different banks could differ.

Bullion

The price of gold in the local market dropped by Rs 4.6 per gram over the week and closed Rs 21,100 per 10 grams on Friday as the price of yellow metal went down in the international market.

According to weekly prices released by the Nepal Gold-Silver Dealers Association, the local market opened at Rs 21,560 per 10 grams on Sunday. While it gained Rs 90 overnight and was traded at Rs 21,650 on Monday, the prices of yellow metal dropped to Rs 21,260 on Tuesday, Rs 21,220 on Wednesday and Rs 21,005 on Thursday.

The gold price, however, gained Rs 95 on Friday and closed at Rs 21,100 this week. Likewise, the price of silver went down by Rs 7 per 10 grams to close at Rs 296 this week. Since Nepal is dependent on the international market for meeting domestic demand for bullion, any fluctuation in the global market is reflected in domestic prices.

Stock Market

As recent policy changes continued to ruffle investors, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index lost 12.8 points over the week and closed at 651.22 points on Thursday.

As per NEPSE’s statement, the index for commercial banks tumbled by 17.07 points. Index for development banks also slid by 46.71 points along with indices for finance and manufacturing groups during the week.

With a rise in index by 3, the insurance group remained gainer at the stock market this week. Indices of trading, hydropower, hotels and others groups remained the same over the week.