Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) shed 4.98 points to close trading at 2,561.08 on Wednesday.
The benchmark opened on a positive note but slipped into negative territory shortly after, and ultimately ended the session 0.19% lower.
Unit prices of 170 scrips declined during the session, while 77 advanced and nine remained unchanged. Trading activity also slowed as total turnover fell to Rs 3.77 billion with 8.38 million shares traded through 50,626 transactions.
Barun Energy topped the turnover chart with Rs 274.04 million worth of shares traded. Sahas Urja followed with a turnover of Rs 196.05 million, while Radhi Bidyut Company Ltd was third with turnovers of Rs 159.48 million.
Four sub-indices posting gains, while nine closed in the red. Hotels & Tourism led the gainers with a rise of 1.16%, while the Development Bank sub-index registered the sharpest fall of 1.09%.
