KATHMANDU, AUGUST 18

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index fell by 34.47 points, or 1.14%, on Sunday, dropping below the 3,000-point threshold to settle at 2,966.33 points. The index had crossed 3,000 points just last Thursday.

In addition to the decline in the benchmark index, the daily turnover also saw a slight decrease, recording Rs 28.8 billion from the exchange of 65,475,366 units of shares from 330 companies across 300,918 transactions. This is down from an intraday turnover of Rs 29.9 billion on Thursday.

The sensitive index, which tracks the performance of class 'A' stocks, dropped by 1.24%, while the float index, which measures actively traded shares, declined by 1.09%.

The market was largely negative today, with only four sectors-Banking, Non-Life Insurance, Mutual Fund, and Life Insurance-posting slight gains, none exceeding 1%. The Hotels and Tourism sector suffered the most, with a 4.49% loss, followed by Hydropower (3.74%), Others (3.04%), Finance (2.79%), Manufacturing and Processing (2.58%), and Development Bank (2.25%).

In terms of individual stock movements, only 47 companies advanced, while 197 declined.

Despite the overall negative market sentiment, four companies-Rastriya Beema Company Limited (RBCL), Life Insurance Company (Nepal) Limited (LICN), Multipurpose Finance Company Limited (MPFL), and Sampada Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SMPDA)-each recorded a 10% gain in their share values. On the other hand, Nepal Finance Ltd. (NFC) was the only company to register a 10% loss in its share value.