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Elon Musk says he’ll be spending less time in Washington slashing government costs and more time running Tesla after his electric vehicle company reported a big drop in profits, Associated Press reported.

Musk said on a conference call with analysts Tuesday that “now that the major work of establishing Department of Government Efficiency is done,” that he will be “allocating far more of my time to Tesla” starting in May. Musk said he now expects to spend just “a day or two per week on government matters”

Tesla struggled to sell vehicles as it faced angry protests over Musk’s leadership of DOGE, a jobs-cutting group that has divided the country. The Austin, Texas, company reported a 71% drop in profits and a 9% decline in revenue for the first quarter, according to the Associated Press.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 4. 93 points to close at 2,693. 35 points on Tuesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 3. 62 points to close at 452. 19 points.

A total of 22,555,713-unit shares of 319 companies were traded for Rs 8. 32 billion.

Meanwhile, Nepal Micro Insurance Company Limited (NMIC) was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Corporate Development Bank Limited (CORBL) was the top loser with its price dropped by 10. 00 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 47 trillion.

Commercial banks have set aside Rs 35.07bn for loan loss provisions in the third quarter of fiscal year 2024/25. According to the recent data of the Nepal Rastra Bank, the amount is Rs 4.80bn less than Rs 39.87bn that the bank had allocated for provisioning in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Of the 20 commercial banks in the country, Everest Bank allocated the least amount for loan loss provisions, setting aside only Rs 270m. This is lower than Rs 630m that the bank had set aside for provisioning in the same period of 2023/24. Standard Chartered Bank reversed its loan loss provisions, recording a write-back of Rs 99m in the third quarter year, against a Rs 250m provision in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

On the other hand, Kumari Bank topped the list for the highest loan loss provisions, allocating Rs 5.16bn by mid-April. Laxmi Sunrise Bank was next with Rs 3.19bn allocated for the same purpose by the end of third quarter. The need for high provision is due to rising non-performing loan (NPL) levels in the banking system. NPL levels of banks have reached as high as 8 percent by the third quarter. Out of 20 commercial banks, 18 saw an increase in their NPL level, with one bank recording an NPL ratio of nearly eight percent. Nine banks have an NPL ratio above five percent, while three banks—Standard Chartered, Sanima, and Everest—have NPLs at or below four percent. Banks like Nepal Investment Mega, Himalayan, Kumari, Laxmi Sunrise, NIC Asia, Nepal Bank, and Prabhu Bank also have NPL ratios exceeding five percent.

Banks profit up by 1.4 percent

Commercial banks collectively earned a net profit of Rs 41.25bn over the first nine months of 2024/25. According to the NRB, this is an increase of 1.4 percent over Rs 40.68bn that the bank had reported in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The profit growth is largely due to the facility for restructuring and rescheduling loans in the construction provided by the central bank. In the third quarter, 11 banks reported higher net profits, while nine saw a decline.

Nabil Bank has recorded the highest net profit among 20 commercial banks in the country. The bank’s net profit has reached Rs 5.05bn—a growth of 8.21 percent from the same period of the last fiscal year. Nepal Investment Mega reported a 38.61 percent surge in net profit to Rs 4.54bn, while Global IME’s profit grew by 37.12 percent to Rs 4.53bn. Everest Bank saw its net profit rise by 32.55 percent to Rs 3.45bn. Nepal Bank Limited reported the highest net profit growth of 2,032.8 percent, with its net profit reaching Rs 2.78bn by the third quarter.

Gold price has set a new record in the domestic market today.

According to the Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the price of precious yellow metal has increased by Rs 6, 900 per tola and is being traded at Rs 197, 900 per tola.

Likewise, the price of silver has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1, 970 per tola.