Nepse down 13.46 points; turnover also falls to Rs 8.9 billion

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index ended 13.46 points lower at 2,837.77 points on Friday.

Although the index posted initial gains, it soon moved into negative territory and hit an intra-day low of 2,825.76. Although a pullback in the closing hour pared some losses, the index still ended the session 0.47% lower.

Nepse had gained 48.71 points in the previous session.

Unit prices of 209 scrips declined during the session, while 56 advanced and three remained unchanged. Market analysts have attributed Friday’s decline to profit-booking following strong gains in the previous sessions.

Despite Nepse’s decline, unit prices of four scrips hit the positive circuit of 10%, while four others logged gains above 9%.

The total turnover also fell, with Rs 8.9 billion worth of shares traded on the bourse on Friday, down from Rs 9.91 billion in the previous session. A total of 21.08 million units were traded through 97,480 transactions during the session.

Among individual stocks, National Hydropower Company Ltd logged the highest turnover of Rs 513.29 million. Next were Reliance Spinning Mills Ltd and Ridi Power Company Ltd with turnovers of Rs 435.95 million and Rs 381.49 million, respectively.

Only two sectoral indices posted gains on Friday, while the remaining 11 ended the session in the green. The biggest loss came from the Others sub-index, which was down by 1.39%, while the Manufacturing & Processing sub-index posted the biggest gain of 1.59%.