Trading on the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) was halted on Thursday after three consecutive negative circuit breakers were triggered, with the market tumbling by 6 per cent in a single session.
The index slumped by 4 per cent within just two minutes of opening, forcing a 20-minute pause in trading. When activity resumed, the index slipped by a further 1 per cent, reaching a 5 per cent loss and prompting a second halt at 11:23 am. Following a 40-minute suspension, trading recommenced at 12:04 pm but quickly fell by another 1 per cent, amounting to a 6 per cent decline and activating the third circuit breaker. This resulted in the suspension of trading for the remainder of the day.
By the close, the NEPSE index had shed 160 points to settle at 2,511. Overall, trading lasted only around four minutes, with total transactions worth Rs 728.7 million recorded.
Sectoral losses were widespread, with the Trading group registering the sharpest decline at 9.34 per cent. This was followed by Others (7.48 per cent), Hotels & Tourism (7.24 per cent), and Investment (7.18 per cent). The “Others” category, which includes Himalayan Reinsurance and Nepal Reinsurance, suffered significant drops that weighed heavily on the group.
Banking shares retreated by 5.52 per cent, Development Banks by 5.13 per cent, Finance by 4.52 per cent, Hydropower by 5.40 per cent, Life Insurance by 6.66 per cent, Manufacturing & Processing by 5.02 per cent, Microfinance by 4.08 per cent, and Non-Life Insurance by 5.42 per cent.
A total of 16 listed companies hit the daily maximum loss limit of 10 per cent. These included both reinsurers – Nepal Reinsurance and Himalayan Reinsurance – as well as Unnati Sahakarya Microfinance, Nepal Micro Insurance, Trade Tower, Sindhu Bikas Bank, Soaltee Hotel, IGI Prudential Insurance, Synergy Power, and Crest Micro Life Insurance.
Several other companies saw declines of over 9.9 per cent, including Saptakoshi Development Bank, Chandragiri Hills, Shikhar Insurance, Himalayan Power Partner, National Hydropower, and NLG Insurance.
In addition, share prices of United Ajod Insurance, Best Finance, Oriental Hotel, Ankhu Khola Hydropower, Bishal Bazar Company, CEDB Holdings, Citizen Life Insurance, Api Power, Vikas Hydropower, Balephi Hydropower, Sanvi Energy, NRN Infrastructure, Janaki Finance, Sarbottam Cement, Butwal Power, and Himal Dolakha Hydropower all dropped by more than 9 per cent.