Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) extended its losing run for a third straight day and closed 15.37 points lower at 2,048.57 points on Thursday – the last trading day of the week.
Although the benchmark index posted gains initially, reaching an intra-day high of 2,074.97 points, it erased all the gains as the day progressed and ended the session 0.74% lower.
Share prices of 187 companies declined on the day, while 49 advanced and eight remained unchanged.
Trading of promotional shares of Machhapuchhre Bank Ltd alone contributed about one-fourth of the total transactions recorded on the day. Promoter shares of the commercial banks worth Rs 1.21 billion were traded on the bourse on Thursday. Gurkhas Finance Ltd and Shivam Cement Ltd were other top performers in terms of turnover with transactions worth Rs 285.31 million and Rs 145.88 million, respectively.
Share prices of Dhaulagiri Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha and the newly-listed Sarbottam Cement Ltd posted positive circuits of 10% on Thursday.
Among trading groups, only the Trading sub-index posted nominal gains of 0.65%. The biggest loss came from the Microfinance sub-index, which was down by 1.32%. Next on the list were Hotels & Tourism and Hydropower sub-indices with losses of 1.02% and 0.84%, respectively.
Shares worth Rs 4.31 billion changed hands on the stock exchange on Thursday, while the total market capitalization reached Rs 3.24 trillion.
