Kathmandu, March 18

Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) — the capital and commodity market regulator — has urged investors not to panic, as the share market continues to tumble.

SEBON has stated that the share investors should not base their investment decisions on rumours. “As a regulatory body, the board has always been silently observing the situation of the securities market,” it had warned in the statement.

In the recent past, some people have been spreading negative messages in the market by linking the securities market with the coronavirus outbreak.

Noting that the country has not witnessed an outbreak of coronavirus yet and the government has taken various precautionary measures to prevent and control the virus, the board has stated that it is taking various steps for development and improvement of the primary and secondary markets.

The board has urged the investors to make informed decision. “Investors should decide to buy or sell shares taking into consideration every aspect (basic and technical) of the related sector, industry and companies,” SEBON has stated.

The SEBON statement, however, is in sharp contradiction to the macroeconomic update of the Nepal Rastra Bank unveiled today, in which the central bank has projected the country’s remittance, as well as the economic growth, is likely to take a hit due to the coronavirus.

Despite the SEBON statement, Nepal Stock Exchange index dropped by 1.28 per cent or 16.26 points to close at 1,255.80 points today. The sensitive index went down by 1.02 per cent or 2.8 points to 271.79 points and float index descended by 1.34 per cent or 1.21 points to 89.15 points.

Altogether 3.48 million shares of 172 companies were traded through 15,780 transactions that amounted to Rs 1.18 billion today.

Trading was the only subgroup to land in the green, with rest of the sub-indices recording losses.