Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) last week declined 44.86 points (1.68 percent) after Nepal Rastra Bank’s first review of the monetary policy failed to elate investors of share market.

In a four day trading session, the secondary market opened at 2,676.03 points on Sunday, while it closed at 2,631.17 points on Wednesday. Over the period, the index went as high as 2,694.89 points, while it was recorded at a low of 2,623.10 points, resulting in a volatility of 71.79 points.

The market index declined throughout the trading days last week. Dropping by 26.51 points, the market started the week on a negative note. On the consecutive three days, the market declined by 4.28 points, 0.53 points and 13.52 points, respectively. The secondary market remained closed on Thursday, with the government declaring a public holiday on the day to celebrate Udhauli Parva, Dhanya Poornima and Yomari Punhi.

Three groups – finance, manufacturing and processing, and mutual funds - gained, while the finance index surged by the highest of 1.95 percent. Out of the 10 losers, Life insurance plunged by the largest of 3.44 percent, followed by banking of 3.04 percent.

Regarding the individual companies, Himalayan Reinsurance Limited with holding turnover of its shares worth Rs 669.44 million stood as the topmost in the segment. Mountain Energy Nepal Limited lost 17.25 percent of its market value. Share prices of Sagar Distillery Limited surged by 46.40 percent, the highest of all.

Along with the market index, the total turnover amount also declined to Rs 21.51 billion from Rs 32.50 billion (a 33.79 percent drop) in the previous week. The average turnover also fell to Rs 5.37 billion from Rs 6.50 billion.

In the review period, the market capitalization declined to Rs 4.417 trillion from Rs 4.493 trillion, making investors lose Rs 76 billion in their book values. In the previous week, the investors earned Rs 195 billion from share transactions.