KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 29

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) experienced a significant downturn on Thursday, plunging 28.68 points or 1.43%, sliding below the 2,000-point threshold to settle at 1,972.09 points by the end of the trading day. This drop came just days after the NEPSE index had surpassed the 2,000-point mark on Sunday.

Despite the decline in the benchmark index, daily turnover continued its upward trajectory, reaching Rs 2.5 billion today, attributed to the exchange of 7,446,991 units of shares from 309 companies in 48,349 transactions, a notable increase from Rs 2 billion recorded on Wednesday.

In tandem with the NEPSE index drop, both the sensitive index, reflecting the performance of class 'A' stocks, and the float index, assessing actively traded shares, also saw declines of 1.34% and 1.38% respectively.

The market saw widespread losses across all sectors, with the Finance sector bearing the brunt with a 3.21% loss, followed by hydropower, Trading, and hotels and tourism sectors with drops of 2.62%, 2.515%, and 2.27% respectively. Interestingly, the trading sector, which had surged substantially by 5.51% the previous day, faced a downturn today.

Amidst the market turbulence, only 17 companies advanced, while 220 companies declined and 11 remained unchanged. However, amidst the overall decline, Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) Limited (BNL) recorded a significant 10% gain, contrasting with Joshi Hydropower Development Company Limited (JOSHI), which experienced a 10% decline, becoming the sole company with the highest number of shares traded at 282,383 units.

Sonapur Mills and Oil Limited (SONA) led in terms of turnover with Rs 111,310,346.10, while Himalayan Reinsurance Limited (HRL) topped in transactions with 2,207.

The total market capitalization stood at Rs 3.099 trillion on Thursday.