August 27: The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index has once again dropped below 2,000 points.  The dividend season has begun, with mutual funds announcing their profits. Investors, however, seem to have lost confidence in the market.

Investors attribute the continuous market decline to policy restrictions and increasing interest rates.

The continuous fall of the market ever since the Nepal Rastra Bank issued the monetary policy for fiscal year 2023/2024 reflects loss of confidence and morale among the investors.

When the market goes up for a few days, it can't sustain the momentum as traders tend to sell their shares to secure a small profit, which further affects the market negatively.

In today's trading session, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index lost 20.54 points or 1.02% and closed at 1,993.38 points on the first trading day of the week, Sunday.

During today's trading, a total of 280 scrips exchanged their hands through 38,666 transactions.  As many as 3,895,236 shares were traded, amounting to a turnover of Rs. 1.26 billion.

Asian Life Insurance Co. Limited (ALICL) recorded the highest turnover of Rs. 7.46 crores and closed at a market price of Rs. 694.

Similarly, Kutheli Bukhari Small Hydropower Limited (KBSH) gained the highest 10%, hitting the upper circuit for the day.

Meanwhile, Makar Jitumaya Suri Hydropower Limited (MAKAR) lost the highest 9.63% today.

In terms of sub-indices, only the Mutual Fund sector closed in the green zone while the remaining sectors landed in the green territory.

The Hydropower Index lost the most for the day with a 1.75% negative change.

The Sensitive Index lost 0.89%, while Float Index and Sensitive Float Index dropped by 1% and 0.93% respectively..