KATHMANDU, Sept. 20 -- The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a dramatic plunge of 160.33 points in a single day of trading last week, leaving investors reeling with heavy losses.

The secondary market, which had remained closed for six consecutive trading days following the Gen Z protests, reopened on Thursday. But trading barely lasted an hour before regulators were forced to suspend operations due to the steepest single-day fall in recent memory.

Within just two minutes of the market opening, NEPSE triggered its first "negative circuit" after tumbling 107.04 points to 2,565.21. The trading halt lasted 20 minutes, but the freefall continued as soon as trading resumed at 11:22 AM, prompting a second circuit within a minute. After an...