Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index continued its upward trend for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, gaining 11.17 points to close the day at 2,165.24 points.
The market opened for trading at 2,154.02 points on Wednesday. Despite initial gains, the benchmark index hit an intra-day low of 2,142.15 points before recovering gradually to ultimately close 0.52% higher.
Share prices of only 73 companies advanced on the day, while 131 companies saw their prices decline, and share prices of 13 companies remained unchanged.
United Ajod Insurance Ltd was the most sought-after stock of the day, with shares worth Rs 235.74 million of the life insurer being traded. Next on the list were NIC Asia Bank and Shivam Cement, with turnovers of Rs 147.08 million and Rs 138.87 million, respectively.
Among the trading groups, only five sub-indices ended the day in the green, with the maximum gain coming from the Trading sub-index, which was up by 4.83%. Eight trading groups logged losses on the day.
Shares worth Rs 3.34 billion were traded on the secondary market on Wednesday. The total market capitalization reached Rs 3.18 trillion.
