NEPSE slips 13 points, SEBON chair resigns

The stock market started the week on a negative note, with the NEPSE index dropping 13.17 points to settle at 2,825.23.

A total of 349 companies were traded during the session, with over 11.65 million shares changing hands through 116,310 transactions. The day’s turnover stood at around NRs 5.43 billion.

Most sectors dragged the market down, with the exception of the hotel and tourism group, which posted a slight gain of 1.01%.

Share prices of 197 companies declined, while 65 recorded gains and 6 remained unchanged. Dolti Power Company experienced the largest drop, losing 5.35%.

Four companies: Suryakund Hydroelectric, Hotel Forest Inn, Palpa Cement Industries, and Shikhar Power Development hit the positive circuit limit of 15%. Another two companies crossed price rise by over 10%: Jhapa Energy and Ridge Line Energy. This comes after the new circuit breaker threshold recently raised from 10% to 15%, allowing stocks to fluctuate more widely.

Hotel Forest Inn led the market in trading value, with shares worth about NRs 360.1 million exchanged.

Despite some strong performers, the overall market sentiment remained bearish.

SEBON chair resigns

Last week, the Chairman of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), Santosh Narayan Shrestha, resigned from his position.

Shrestha was appointed as SEBON chairman on November 25, 2024. He held the position after it remained vacant since January 6, leaving the capital market regulator without leadership for over 10 months.

Shrestha’s tenure was repeatedly mired in controversy, with allegations that his appointment was influenced by intermediary groups. In addition, questions were raised about his qualifications for the regulatory role.

He was accused of being closely aligned with a broker network led by individuals such as Deepak Bhatt and Sulav Agrawal, who allegedly played a role in securing his position.

During his tenure, Shrestha faced scrutiny over his involvement in facilitating concentrated share ownership in Nepal Reinsurance Company, where investigations suggested misuse of funds from public companies amounting to billions of rupees. He was also linked to facilitating IPO approvals in exchange for commission, with allegations of charging 5 to 7% fees for regulatory clearances.

Further controversy arose over claims that he expedited approvals for certain companies, including allowing investment funds to raise capital through fast-track processes. There were also conflict-of-interest concerns, with allegations that he approved IPOs for companies in which his own family had financial interests.

Shrestha submitted his resignation letter to the Ministry of Finance on Friday.