Stock market sees further fall

September 15, 2001
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September 15, 2001

Kathmandu: The country’s stock market witnessed further fall during the last week (September 10 to September 14). The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index slipped by over 11 points as the investors remained hesitant to invest on the shares following the government’s recent decision to reduce land holding ceiling and the consequent demand by the RPP and Nepal Sadhbhavana Party lawmakers to put a ceiling on property too.

The Nepalese stock market has shown a bearish trend following the budget speech in mid-July with exceptions in between. It has been affected by the pressure in the money market owing to current political phenomenon and the government’s land reform decision. The NEPSE index that stood at 276.91 on Monday slipped to 265.22 by Friday. It had slipped by over 1.5 points during the previous week and nearly 14 points a week earlier.

Though there is no sign of improvement in the near future, financial experts believe that the transactions can go up if the government takes measures to promote the capital market by implementing favourable taxation laws.

During the reported week, shares of 32 companies out of the 54 enlisted ones were traded on the NEPSE floor. So far as the group-wise performance on the NEPSE trading floor is concerned, the index of commercial banking sector witnessed a considerable fall from 276.06 to 260.75.

The indices of other sectors either slipped or remained constant. The manufacturing sector index dropped from 314.85 to 304.16 and the index of the insurance and finance sector fell from 313.03 to 310.97 while the hotel sector index remained constant at 265.91. The index of the trading sector too remained constant at 110.44.

Commercial banks sector accounted for 79.85 per cent share in the total rupees’ volume of transaction on the floor in the reported week. Finance sector accounted for 13.95 per cent, hotel sector 2,68 per cent and trading sector 1.34 per cent.

Seen in terms of number of transactions, Nepal Merchant Banking and Finance Company Ltd. topped the list of companies with 119 buy and sell during the week.

But, in terms of the number of shares traded and the volume of transaction, Bank of Kathmandu was the leader. Altogether 10,891 shares of this company were traded during the reported week for Rs. 3.9 million.

The NEPSE floor remained open for five working days during the week. The shares of Nepal Merchant Bank and Finance Ltd., Bank of Kathmandu, Himalayan Bank Ltd., Everest Bank Ltd., Nepal Industrial and Commercial Bank were traded Monday through Friday.