Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) witnessed a notable rise in trading activity this week, with total turnover soaring by 50.95%.
Shares worth Rs 30.50 billion changed hands this week, up from Rs 20.2 billion this week.
The sharp increase in market transactions came even as the Nepse index slipped slightly by 4.26 points, or 0.16%, to close at 2,596.12 points this week. The benchmark, which had gained 3.86% in the previous week, reached a high of 2,650.61 and a low of 2,576.83 during the review period, reflecting a reduced volatility of 73.78 points compared to 136.13 points a week ago. The highest intraday gain of 30.76 points was recorded on Sunday.
The number of traded shares increased by 20.76% to 72.25 million units from 52.35 million units in the previous week, while total transactions rose by 38.21% to 263,195 from 178,592 in the previous week.
Of the 13 trading sub-indices, only five posted gains while the remaining eight ended in the red. The Finance sub-index recorded the sharpest weekly gain of 6.16%, whereas the Hydropower sub-index saw the biggest drop of 1.39%.
In terms of turnover, Himalayan Bank Limited (Promoter) was the most actively traded stock of the week, with a turnover of Rs 1.66 billion. United Hydropower and Radhi Bidyut Company followed closely, registering turnovers of Rs 1.34 billion and Rs 1.33 billion, respectively. Three other companies—NRN Infrastructure & Development, Shivam Cement, and Himalayan Distillery Limited—also posted weekly turnovers exceeding Rs 1 billion.
