Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index ended a two-day gaining streak on Friday, closing 8.30 points lower at 2,653.40.
The index moved into the negative territory right after trading began and remained in the red throughout the session. After hitting an intra-day low of 2,646.90 points toward the close, the index pared some losses but still ended the last trading day of the week 0.31% lower.
Unit prices of 160 stocks declined during the session, while 103 advanced and 14 remained unchanged. Despite Nepse’s decline, total turnover slightly improved to Rs 4.41 billion with 8.58 million units traded through 46,234 transactions.
Among individual stocks, the newly-listed Sanigad Hydropower Ltd hit the 15% positive circuit. Snow Rivers Ltd and Kalanga Hydropower Ltd also posted gains of 14.99% and 14.98%, respectively. On the other hand, Upper Lohorekhola Hydropower Ltd posted the largest loss of 11.21%. Next were Dhaulagiri Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd and Crest Micro Life Insurance Ltd with losses of 11.21% and 4.97%, respectively. Likewise, 4% Agricultural Bond posted the highest turnover of Rs 430 million. Next were 11% KBL Debenture 2089 and NRN Infrastructure & Development with turnovers of Rs 396.43 million and Rs 175.5 million, respectively.
Seven out of 13 trading groups posted losses on Friday, while six ended the session in the green. The Banking sub-index posted the biggest loss of 0.96%. On the other hand, the Finance sub-index posted the biggest gain of 1.06%.
