Nepse drops 49.70 points as market enters correction phase

The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index fell by 49.70 points this week, as the market entered a correction phase driven by profit-booking and heightened investor caution following recent gains. The decline signals a pause in upward momentum, amid ongoing investigations and rising volatility, rather than a fundamental reversal of trend. The bearish sentiment wiped out around Rs 80 billion in investor wealth over the five trading days. Total market capitalisation fell from Rs 4.83 trillion last week to Rs 4.75 trillion, marking a 1.66 percent decline. Liquidity also weakened significantly. Cumulative weekly turnover stood at Rs 29.388 billion, an 18.31 percent drop from the previous week’s Rs 35.976 billion. The daily average turnover fell to Rs 5.88 billion, down from over Rs 7 billion in the preceding week. The market remained largely in the red, with almost all sub-indices closing in negative territory. The Others sector led the losses with a 3.54 percent decline, followed by Finance (down 2.88 percent) and Hydropower (down 2.32 percent). The Banking sub-index, often seen as a market stabiliser, fell by 1.71 percent. The Manufacturing and Processing sector was the sole gainer, posting a marginal increase of 0.14 percent to close at 11,702.19 points. Palpa Cement Industries and Shikhar Power Development posted extraordinary gains of over 101 percent, closing at Rs 971.40 and Rs 920.10, respectively, largely driven by speculative momentum rather than fundamentals. Dolti P