NEPSE 15% price limit and circuit breakers explained.

What is a daily price limit?

A daily price limit is the maximum percentage a stock's price can move in either direction from the previous day's close in a single trading session. If a stock closed at NPR 500 yesterday, a 15% limit means it can trade as high as NPR 575 or as low as NPR 425 today. Orders placed outside this band are rejected outright; the stock cannot trade at a price beyond the limit no matter how strong the buy or sell pressure.

What changed in April 2026?

Under NEPSE's revised trading rules announced in April 2026, the exchange made three changes:

• The daily per-stock price limit was widened from 10% to 15%.
• The Pre-Open order band was widened to 5% above or below the previous close (orders outside this narrower band are rejected during Pre-Open even if they would be within the 15% daily limit).
• Index-level circuit breaker thresholds were set at 5% and 8%.

How do the index circuit breakers work?

Circuit breakers apply to the entire NEPSE market, not individual stocks:

• 5% move within the first two hours of trading: all trading halts for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, trading resumes normally.
• 8% move at any point during the session: trading is suspended for the rest of the day. The market does not reopen until the next scheduled trading session.

The trigger is based on the NEPSE index movement from the previous day's close, not from the intraday high or low.

Why are circuit breakers useful for investors?

Imagine a major piece of negative news hits at 11:30 AM. Without a circuit breaker, a cascade of sell orders could push prices down 20% in minutes on thin liquidity, and panicked retail investors might sell at the bottom of the move. The 15-minute halt at a 5% index drop gives everyone a pause: read the news properly, check whether the initial reaction was rational, and re-enter orders with a clearer head.

Stock-level price limits serve a similar function: they prevent a single piece of rumour or a large erroneous order from moving a stock to an extreme price in one session.

What happens to queued orders when a circuit breaker triggers?

During a market halt, order entry and modification are suspended. Open orders are not automatically cancelled; they remain in the book and resume when trading restarts (after 15 minutes for the 5% halt, or the next trading day for the 8% close). Check your broker's specific handling, as some TMS systems show orders as pending during the halt.

How does this connect to other trading rules?

The 15% limit works alongside NEPSE's other order rules. Read how NEPSE trading works to understand how limit orders, T+2 settlement, and the full trade lifecycle fit together.

Punji's heat map shows every NEPSE sector in colour-coded tiles, sized by market cap, so you can see which sectors are hitting their limits at a glance. See the NEPSE heat map for the full-market view.