Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) last week plunged 27.37 points to close at 1,044.01 on Thursday as political turmoil continued to hurt investor confidence.

The market that opened at 1,071.38 on Sunday gained 4.42 points on Monday before losing points for rest of the week.

Parmeshwor Bhakta Malla, managing director of Malla & Malla Stock Broking Company, attributed the fall to the ongoing India-imposed trade embargo on Nepal and fluid political situation. “The selling pressure is high, with just a few investors willing to purchase and hold stocks for a longer period,”

he said.

Despite the fall in the index, the transaction volume rose 63.78 percent in the review period. The transaction amounted to Rs1.24 billion from the trading of 2,436,630 shares.

Except for Others and Trading, all other groups posted losses. The Insurance group was the biggest loser (down 131.7 points). It was followed by Hydropower Companies, Commercial Banks, Development Banks, Hotels, Finance Companies and Manufacturing. Others gained 3.53 points, while Trading remained stable at 207.97 points.

The sensitive index that measures the performance of blue chip companies fell 5.92 points to close at 225.37 points.

Nepal Life Insurance posted the highest individual transaction of Rs88.11 million. It was followed by Everest Bank, Sana Kisan Bikas Bank, Nabil Bank (promoters’ shares) and NIC Asia Bank. With 174,000 units of its shares changing hands, Siddhartha Equity Oriented Scheme topped in terms of the number of shares traded.

Meanwhile, the market listed primary shares of four companies—Clean Village Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha, Reliable Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha, Womi Microfinance Bittiya Sanstha and Nepal Grameen Bikas Bank.