Rupee gains, gold sets new record, NEPSE bounces back

KATHMANDU, Jan 31: Nepali currency gained nominally vis-à-vis the US dollar over the week, as the greenback depreciated against the Indian rupee, to which our currency is pegged. While the sharp rise in international gold price caused the price of yellow metal to touch record high in the domestic market, country’s sole stock market also bounced back over the week, Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) figures show. [break]

Currency

The partially-convertible Nepali rupee gained a nominal 60 paisa against the US dollar over the week, settling at Rs 78.50 per dollar.

Nepal Rastra Bank, the country’s central bank, fixed the dollar’s selling rate at Rs 79.10 on Sunday, but the rupee appreciated against the greenback with the rate closing at Rs 78.50 on Friday.

The rupee, however, weakened against the Euro by Rs 2.42, and closed at Rs 104.16 per Euro (€) this week. The domestic currency weakened against the Pound Sterling (£) as well by Rs 3.45 and closed at Rs 111.81 per Pound this week. As per the existing open-market exchange rate policy, rates quoted by different banks could differ.

Bullion

Gold gained Rs 17 per gram over the week, and was traded at a record high price of Rs 22,720 per 10 grams in the local market Friday. Bullion dealers attributed the rise to a sharp increment in the price of yellow metal in the international market.

According to the Nepal Gold-Silver Dealers Association, the local market had opened at Rs 22,550 per 10 grams on Sunday. It had lost Rs 45 per 10 grams on Monday and further slid to Rs 22,375 per 10 grams on Thursday. However, it gained Rs 345 overnight and closed at Rs 22,720 on Friday.

Likewise, the price of silver went up to Rs 317 per 10 grams from Rs 300 this week.

Since Nepal fulfills its domestic bullion demand from the international market, any fluctuation in the prices in the global market is reflected in the domestic prices.

NEPSE

The government’s announcement to soften marginal lending policy in favor of investors caused the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index to gain 42.68 points over the week and close at 658.83 points on Wednesday.

According to NEPSE records, 312,523 shares of 67 companies changed hands over the three effective trading days of the week. The trading totaled Rs 199.88 million. Transactions last week had totaled Rs 308.88 million.

Among the major transactions, shares of category ‘A’ companies totaled Rs 129.1 million. It was 64.60 percent of the total transactions recorded for the week.

As per NEPSE statement, the index for commercial banks went up by 48.76 points and closed at 617.46 points. The index for development banks also soared by 75.77 points, along with indices for finance, insurance and hydropower among other groups.

While indices of manufacturing and trading groups remained unchanged throughout the week, hotel group witnessed a decline in its index by 3.86 points during the week.