NEPSE Tweaks Circuit Breaker Rules Widening Price Movement Limits

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) has introduced a set of technical reforms to its market safeguard mechanism, with the changes coming into effect from April 20, 2026.

According to the Securities Board of Nepal, the revision adjusts how circuit breakers operate on the NEPSE index. Under the new system, trading will be halted if the market moves up or down by 8%, an increase from the previous 6% threshold. The updated structure also reduces circuit breaker stages from three to two, streamlining market suspension rules.

If the index fluctuates by 5% within the first two hours of trading, a 15-minute trading suspension will be triggered. If movements extend to 8%, trading will be halted for the remainder of the day.

The reforms also expand the daily price movement limit for individual stocks to 15%, up from 10%, allowing greater flexibility in price discovery while increasing volatility risk.

In another change, investors will now be able to place buy and sell orders after market close at 3 PM, which will be processed on the next trading day based on broker priority.

The pre-open session range (10:30 AM to 10:55 AM) has also been widened to 5% from 2%, giving more room for early price adjustments.

Officials said the changes are designed as technical enhancements to improve market efficiency, align with international practices, and support the growing investor base in Nepal’s capital market.