NEPSE Falls 1.11% a Day After Record Circuit Breakers

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index declined on Tuesday, March 10, a day after trading was halted following three positive circuit breakers.

The benchmark index fell by 32.08 points, or 1.11 percent, to close at 2,843.35 points.

Trading had resumed on Monday after the stock market remained closed for nearly a week due to the House of Representatives election and other public holidays.

Investor optimism following the election results triggered a sharp rally on Monday. The NEPSE index surged by 4 percent within the first minute of trading, prompting an automatic 20-minute suspension.

When trading resumed, the index climbed another 1 percent within a minute, triggering the second circuit breaker and a 40-minute halt.

After reopening again, the index rose by a further 1 percent within a minute. The total gain reached 6 percent, triggering the third circuit breaker and halting trading for the rest of the day.

By the time the market closed, the NEPSE index had gained 6 percent or 162.93 points to settle at 2,875.43.

On Tuesday, the market opened with a gap up at 2,911 points, reflecting the previous day’s enthusiasm. However, the index began to decline within 10 minutes and continued to fluctuate throughout the trading session.

Daily turnover stood at Rs 21.5 billion, a steep surge compared to the pre-election days.

All major sub-indices ended in negative territory. The float index fell by 1.12 percent, the sensitive index by 0.89 percent, and the sensitive float index by 1.14 percent.

Share prices of 178 companies declined, 78 increased, while that of five remained unchanged.

Most sectoral indices also declined. Only the life insurance, non-life insurance and mutual fund sectors closed higher.

The trading sector, which had surged 7.73 percent on Monday, recorded the largest decline, falling by 2.12 percent. The finance sector followed with a drop of 2.06 percent. Meanwhile, the mutual fund sector posted the highest gain, rising by 1.34 percent.

Reliance Spinning Mills Limited (RSML), the only company that had closed in the red on Monday, led the gainers on Tuesday. It hit the upper circuit limit and closed at Rs 742.80 per share.

Him Star Urja Company Limited (HIMSTAR) was the biggest loser of the day, falling 6.36 percent to Rs 1,046.

Ngadi Group Power Ltd. (NGPL) recorded the highest turnover, with more than Rs 1.09 billion worth of its shares traded.

Market capitalisation stood at Rs 4,783.26 billion at the close of trading.