Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index closed slightly lower on Thursday, the last trading day of the week, shedding 2.35 points, or 0.08%, to settle at 2,652.
Although the benchmark index opened firm and climbed to an intra-day high of 2,661.43 points, it erased all gains as the session progressed and eventually ended the session in negative territory.
Market breadth was mixed, with prices of 139 scrips declining, 107 advancing and five remaining unchanged. Nepal Reinsurance Company Ltd posted the highest turnover of the session with Rs 309.03 million worth of shares traded. Next were Union Hydropower Ltd and Himalayan Reinsurance Ltd with turnovers of Rs at Rs 183.43 million and Rs 113.82 million, respectively.
Turnover also dipped compared to the previous session as Rs 3.26 billion worth of securities were traded on Thursday. A total of 7.95 million units of securities changed hands through 37,562 transactions.
Among trading groups, four posted marginal gains, while nine ended in the red. The Trading sub-index posted the highest gains of 1.36%, whereas Hotels & Tourism suffered the steepest fall of 1.49%.
