Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index extended its decline for a second consecutive session, shedding 4 points to close trading at 2,724.03 on Friday, the last trading day of the week.
The benchmark index witnessed volatile trading throughout the session. The index moved into positive territory during early trading and hit an intraday high of 2,733.31 points. However, it gradually lost momentum and remained under pressure for most of the day before settling in negative territory.
Unit prices of 167 scrips declined during the session, while 92 advanced and 12 remained unchanged. Total turnover slightly improved to Rs 4.34 billion with 9.85 million units traded through 54,177 transactions.
Among individual stocks, the newly-listed Sopan Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Apollo Hydropower Ltd posted the highest growth of 14.99% each. On the other hand, Kalinchowk Hydropower Ltd logged the biggest loss of 10.66%. In terms of transactions, Central Finance Company Ltd topped the turnover chart with shares worth Rs 255.32 million traded. Next were City Hotels Ltd and Ankhukhola Jalvidyut Company Ltd with turnovers of Rs 248.62 million and Rs 226.34 million, respectively.
Four out of 13 trading groups closed higher on Friday, while the remaining ended the session in the red. The Mutual Fund sub-index posted the biggest gain of 0.38%. On the other hand, the Manufacturing & Processing sub-index logged the biggest loss of 0.49%.
