May 3: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index has been on a downward trend over the past few days, losing 291.84 points in the last 30 trading days, while the secondary market index has seen a rise of 199.81 points.

This trend suggests that sellers have been dominating the buyers in the market.

Despite some recent positive developments such as the granting of letters of intent by the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) to 16 companies for new broker licenses and the initiation of the process to open a new private stock exchange, the NEPSE Index has not seen any improvement.

There are reports of an onset of economic crisis in Nepal. Likewise,  though banks and financial institutions have reduced interest rates on deposits, they have kept  interest rates on lending stable and unchanged. This situation has affected transactions on the NEPSE Index.

As a result of the continuous fall in the market, share investors are calling for policy-level changes to instill confidence in the stock market. The NEPSE Index has also seen a decrease in turnover amount.

On Wednesday, the NEPSE Index lost 9.18 points or 0.49%, closing at 1,857.23, with a turnover amount of Rs. 62.02 crores. This is lower than the previous day's turnover of Rs. 69.22 crores.

The highest turnover of Rs. 3.05 crores was recorded by SHIVAM CEMENTS LTD (SHIVAM), with a closing market price of Rs. 399 per share, while the shares of HDHPC traded the most.

Aatmanirbhar Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (ANLB) gained the highest 6.09% for the day, while NIBL Growth Fund (NIBLGF) lost the highest 5.35%.

Only two sector indices - Manufacturing and Processing and Mutual Fund - closed in the green zone. "Hotel and Tourism" lost the highest 1.48% while "Mutual Fund" gained the highest 0.19%.

The Sensitive Index lost 0.33%, while the Float Index and Sensitive Float Index shed 0.53% and 0.30%, respectively.