Kathmandu, March 31:

After staying stable over the last two weeks, the stock market this week entered into bear zone, as share prices of leading scrips inched downward or remained stagnant.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index posted a loss of 7.53 points against last week’s minimal loss of 0.85 point. Nepse, the country’s sole secondary market, stabilised two weeks ago after a heavy loss of over 18 points.

The weekly trading report of Nepse shows that its index dropped to finish off at 480.99 points on Thursday, down from 488.52 points of Sunday, the first day of trading at Nepse floor. The Nepse index remained constant on the second day at 488.52 points, which however, dropped to 480.99 points on the closing day on Thursday.

The weekly turnover stood at Rs 91.62 million with 279,357 unit shares having been traded through 1,357 transactions during the week. A total of 83,131 unit shares worth over Rs 36.78 million were traded through 1,157 transactions. Out of a total of 70 listed companies for share trading, 59 companies saw transactions this week.

The group wise share trading data shows that all the groups listed at Nepse suffered losses this week, pushing the market down to the bear zone. Among the losers, the commercial banks group, which is the largest scrip by volume, suffered a heavy loss of 10.10 points. The group’s index plunged to 501 points from an opening of 511.10 points on Sunday.

Likewise, the others group’s index plummeted by 9.24 points, as it closed down at 651.59 points from the opening 660.83 points. The finance group also suffered heavily and its index finished off at 430.68 points. Earlier the group began its trading at 436.78 points on Sunday.

The manufacturing group lost 2.12 points and closed at 344.95 points on Thursday, from the opening of 347.07 points. Similarly, the insurance and development banks groups also lost in their respective indices. The insurance group closed at 607.45 points, while the development banks group finished off at 477.58 points.

The hotel and trading groups, however, remained constant at 235 points and 148.71 points, respectively. These two groups have not a single trading throughout the week.

Despite the loss, the commercial banks group continued its domination by capturing the largest chunk of total share trading. The group cornered 49.81 per cent of the total trading. The other group came second with 35.90 per cent and the finance group had 6.87 per cent share. The development banks group also had a 4.01 per cent share, while the insurance group bagged 3.09 per cent of the total trading.

Share trading took place for three days only under a regular lot because of public holidays on Monday and Tuesday. Among the listed companies, Nabil Bank, Nepal Investment Bank, Himalayan Bank, Nepal SBI Bank, Nepal Bangladesh Bank, Everest Bank, Machhapuchhre Bank, Lumbini Bank, Kumari Bank, Laxmi Bank, Siddhartha Bank, NCC Bank, Chilime Hydropower Company, National Hydropower Company, Sikhar Insurance, Nepal Merchant Banking and Finance, Standard Finance, Development Credit Bank and Sanima Development Bank saw transactions throughout the week.