Nepse up 19.4 points as Banking stocks rise

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) closed 19.4 points higher at 2,688.91 on Thursday – the last trading day of the week.

Although the benchmark index erased most of the gains after briefly psychological 2,700-point mark during the session, it still ended 0.72% higher.

Despite the gain, market turnover dipped to Rs 9.62 billion compared to Rs 10.45 billion on Wednesday. Both the number of transactions and traded securities declined during the session.

Banking and microfinance stocks led the session, with the Banking and Microfinance sub-indices climbing 3.82% and 2.58%, respectively. Only two other sub-indices posted marginal gains, while nine sub-indices ended in negative territory. The Hotels & Tourism sub-index saw the biggest drop of 2.6%.

In total, unit prices of 104 stocks advanced, 142 declined and one remained unchanged. Ngadi Group Power Ltd posted the highest turnover of the session with Rs 690.17 million worth of shares traded. Radhi Bidyut Company and Kumari Bank Ltd were next with turnovers of Rs 607.11 million and Rs 426.32 million.