Kathmandu, March 10

Due to issues related to the software, online trading at the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) was halted for two-and-a-half hours today. The local bourse was unable to resolve the problem today.

Chandra Singh Saud, chief executive officer at Nepse, said that their technical staffers and the software vendor company have been trying to resolve the problem. “Our team has already been deployed to find out the problem and it might take some time to eliminate the issue.”

Saud further said that the problem was witnessed in the ‘matching log-in engine’ where share buyers and sellers are mostly engaged.

Meanwhile, the share investors have accused the Nepse management of being lackadaisical regarding such incidents. “The Nepse management has always taken issues related to the online trading system in a light manner,” said Uttam Aryal, chairman of Investors Association of Nepal.

“We have been facing various issues with the online trading system since it was launched but the management at Nepse has always overlooked our concerns,” he stated.

It has to be noted that the technical problems encountered by the stock market’s newly-installed online trading system have significantly reduced the trading volume, eroding the confidence of the stock investors. “We have been continuously facing problems while trading after Nepse started online trading and those issues need to be addressed in a scientific manner,” Aryal added.

Nepse had launched the fully automated electronic trading system of shares in the secondary market on July 17.

“It is time that the Securities Board of Nepal and the Finance Ministry look into such issues seriously,” said Aryal, adding that the government needs to look for another viable option.

Before the technical glitch in the software, the Nepse index had inched up by 0.94 point or 0.08 per cent to stand at 1,128.71 points. Due to the problem, daily transaction was limited to Rs 93 million.