Rupee weakens, gold soars, NEPSE tumbles

KATHMANDU, Jan 23: Nepal’s currency weakened nominally vis-a-vis the US dollar over the week, as the dollar gained against the Indian rupee, to which our currency is pegged. While the change in the marginal lending provision continued to hit investor confidence and drag the stock market down, the price of gold went up in the domestic market as prices soared in the international market. [break]

Currency

The partially-convertible Nepali rupee weakened by a nominal 0.30 paisa against the US dollar over the week, settling at Rs 78.75 per dollar.

Nepal Rastra Bank, the country’s central bank, fixed the dollar’s selling rate at Rs 78.45 on Sunday, but the rupee appreciated against the greenback, the rate closing at Rs 78.75 on Friday.

The rupee gained Rs 1.46 against the Euro, and closed at Rs 102.39 per Euro (€). The domestic currency strengthened against the Pound Sterling (£) by Rs 6.85 over the period to settle at Rs 109.56 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 went up by Rs 30 per gram over the week and closed at Rs 21,820 per 10 grams on Friday as the price of yellow metal rallied in the international market.

According to weekly prices released by the Nepal Gold-Silver Dealers Association, the local market opened at Rs 21,520 per 10 grams on Sunday. Even though it lost Rs 170 over the next two days and settled at Rs 21,350 on Tuesday, it went on to gain value towards the end of the week.

On Wednesday and Thursday, gold was traded at Rs 21,800 per 10 grams. It again gained Rs 20 per 10 gram on Friday and closed at Rs 21,820. Likewise, the price of silver went up to 304.50 per 10 grams from 300 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.

NEPSE

As recent policy changes continued to ruffle investors, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index lost 41.27 points over the week, and closed at 609.46 points on Thursday.

According to NEPSE records, 683,724 share units of 82 companies changed hands during the week. Trading volume was recorded at Rs 308.88 million, whereas transactions last week totaled Rs 234.47 million.

Among the major transactions, shares of category ‘A’ companies totaled Rs 148.8 million. It was 48.20 percent of the total transactions recorded for the week.

As per NEPSE’s statement, the index for commercial banks tumbled by 50.52 points. The index for development banks also slid by 92.26 points, along with indices for finance, trading, manufacturing, and other groups.

With a rise in the index by 13.41 points, the insurance group remained a major gainer at the stock market this week. The index of the hotels group alone went up over the week.