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The price of gold has increased by Rs 1, 100 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 170, 500 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 169, 400 per tola on Tuesday.

Similarly, the silver is being traded at Rs 1,  195 per tola today.

Insurance companies have invested over Rs 30bn in the stock market.

According to the National Insurance Authority (NIA), life and non-life insurance companies have invested a combined Rs 30.16bn in the securities market. While life insurance companies have invested Rs 25.77bn in listed companies, non-life insurance companies have invested Rs 4.39bn as of mid-January of the current fiscal year.

The investment of life insurance companies in the stock market has increased by a whopping 97.66 percent over the past year. Such investments rose from Rs 13.37bn in mid-Jan 2024 to Rs 25.77b in mid-Jan 2025.

Ten life insurance companies have invested over Rs 1bn each in the secondary market. According to NIA, Himalayan Life Insurance has made the highest investment of Rs 7.33bn, followed by Nepal Life Insurance (Rs 3.81bn) and Suryajyoti Life Insurance (Rs 2.31bn).

Citizens Life Insurance increased its investment in the stock market by a staggering 507.4 percent during the review period. The company, which had invested Rs 141.8m as of mid-January last year, has increased its investment to Rs 861.3m. Rastriya Jeevan Beema Company kept its stock market investment unchanged at Rs 2.15bn over the one-year period.

investments by non-life insurance companies in the share market have risen by 26.24 percent over the past year. Non-life insurers had invested Rs 3.47bn in the stock market as of mid-Jan 2024.

Among non-life companies, Rastriya Beema Company (Rs 794.1m) has made the highest investment in the stock market as of mid-January, followed by Neco Insurance (Rs 605.1m) and Sagarmatha Lumbini Insurance (Rs 533.7m).

NLG Insurance increased its stock market investment by 450 percent to Rs 128.7m over the one-year period. Sanima GIC Insurance also raised its investment in securities by 373.18 percent to Rs 344m as of mid-January.

The existing law allows insurance companies to invest up to 10 percent of their technical reserves in the secondary market. “Insurance companies can invest up to 10 percent of their total technical reserves in the ordinary shares of public limited companies listed on the securities exchange markets licensed by the Nepal Securities Board,” reads the Investment Guidelines, 2018, issued by Beema Samiti (now NIA).

The total investment of life and non-life insurance companies stands at Rs 772bn. This means insurance companies can invest a maximum of Rs 77.2bn in the stock market. However, they are investing less than 50 percent of the allowed limit in the stock market.

Insurance experts say there is room for insurance companies to invest another Rs 40bn in the secondary market.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 12. 68 points to close at 2,740. 59 points on Tuesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 0. 17 points to close at 459. 88 points.

A total 18,230,302-unit shares of 314 companies were traded for Rs 10. 43 billion.

Meanwhile, Wean Nepal Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (WNLB), Gurans Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (GLBSL) and Emerging Nepal Limited (ENL) were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Saptakoshi Development Bank Ltd (SAPDBL) and 10.25% KBL Debenture 2086 (KBLD86) were the top loser as its price fell by 10.00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 54 trillion.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has initiated preparations to raise more than Rs 60bn from the market by launching an Initial Public Offering (IPO). 

The utility plans to restructure its authorized capital at Rs 300bn and issue 20 percent of its shares at a premium price of Rs 300 per share (face value Rs 100). It plans to use the funds to make equity investments in major hydropower projects, including Dudhkoshi, Upper Arun, Arun-4, Budhi Gandaki and Chainpur Seti, among others, with a combined capacity of approximately 3,000 MW. Additionally, the funds will be allocated to develop critical transmission infrastructure, such as 400 kV double-circuit transmission lines and substations across the country. The planned 400 kV transmission lines and substations are crucial for the NEA to reduce technical losses, improve grid stability and support the integration of new hydropower projects into the national grid. 

NEA has said it needs to make an investment of Rs 534bn (approx) by 2030 to improve its existing transmission infrastructure.

It submitted the IPO proposal to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation two months ago. However, NEA officials say the ministry has not forwarded the proposal to the Finance Ministry for approval. Without the finance ministry’s nod, the proposal cannot be presented to the cabinet for a decision.

Earlier, the NEA’s proposal to issue shares to the general public reached the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal without obtaining the consent of the finance ministry. Although the cabinet decided to allow the NEA to issue shares by revising related laws, the government changed before the legal reforms could be implemented. After the new government was formed under KP Sharma Oli, the finance ministry pointed out that the Cabinet had made a decision regarding the amendment of laws for share issuance provisions without its consent. Consequently, the finance ministry requested that the proposal be restarted from the beginning.

NEA officials say that the planned IPO complies with the Securities Registration and Issue Regulation, 2016, which permits public share issuance at a premium rate if the entity has been profitable for three consecutive years, has a net worth higher than its paid-up capital and the share price determination method is endorsed by outside experts in their evaluation report. The NEA meets all these criteria and hsa received AA+ rating for three consecutive years.

The utility has AA+ credit rating for three consecutive years. The rating reflects NEA’s strong financial position with annual revenues exceeding Rs 116bn and assets valued at over Rs 700bn. The rating indicates a low risk of default and high confidence in the NEA’s ability to meet its financial obligations.

While the NEA had a net loss of Rs 8.89bn in 2015-16, it surprised many by earning a net profit of Rs 1.5bn in 2016-17. It posted a profit of Rs 14.46bn in 2023-24. The utility, which had an accumulated loss of Rs 34.61bn in 2015-16, now has an accumulated profit of Rs 47.41bn.