KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) experienced a significant plunge on Thursday, the first trading day since the Gen Z protests and a recent change in government leadership.

Trading was halted twice by circuit breakers as the market went into a freefall.

Just two minutes after opening, the market dropped by 4%, triggering the first circuit breaker and suspending trading for 20 minutes.

When the market reopened at 11:22 am, it only took one minute for NEPSE’s decline to reach 5%, triggering a second circuit breaker and a 40-minute halt in trading.

By the time the second halt occurred, NEPSE had already fallen by 133 points.