Nepse started shares trading at 3 pm -- the closing time on normal trading days -- for three hours. The trading closed at 6 pm on Sunday."The problem with the generator as well as other power back-up plan affected trading in normal time. As a result, we had to postpone trading for 3 pm," Sitaram Thapaliya, general manager of Nepse, told Republica. "This problem will be settled in the days to come."
Nepse's failure to start trading at the regular time without any information left many investors fuming. They have termed the power failure during normal trading hour as 'gross negligence' of the stock exchange company.
"It's a matter of shame that trading had to be halted due to problem with power supply. Nepse should have arranged effective power back-up system as the country is seeing acute power shortage," Raj Kumar Timilsina, president of Nepal Investors Forum, said. "How can investors trust the exchange company whose sites go haywire frequently and which do not have credible back-up plan? This fiasco also shows that the government does not understand the sensitivity of the capital market which is often referred to as the mirror of the country's economy."
Not only the power failure, Nepse's websites, on which most of the investors rely for live trading information, are going down frequently in recent days.
Issuing a press statement last week, Nepse had admitted that the websites were having problem in transmitting live trading information due to 'excessive load pressure'. Nepse General Manager Thapaliya, however, told Republica that the problem with the website has already resolved.
Meanwhile, Nepse index went up by 6.16 points on Sunday to close at 1,034.14 points. Despite postponement of trading hour, the benchmark index registered a turnover of Rs 263.79 million through the trading of 546,578 units of shares of 118 companies through 1,870 transactions.
Implementation of automated shares trading delayed
Nepse has been delaying implementation of automated trading of shares.
Nepse General Manager Sitaram Thapaliya told Republica that they were still 'reviewing' the report of the consultant that Nepse has hired to suggest it on implementation of automated trading of shares. "Result does not come immediately. It takes time and process to implement the system," he added.
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