KATHMANDU: The bearish trend that started since September kept Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) down this week — from January 22 to 28 —

and the Nepse index dropped by 1.53 points to 515.24 points. However, share transaction showed improving trend with 6.54 per cent growth compared to the previous week.

The Nepse trading floor witnessed 5,137 transactions of 3,51,600 units of shares equal to Rs 166.02 million. Last week, shares equal

to Rs 155.83 million

were traded. Class ‘A’ companies had occupied 51.26 per cent of the total transaction with Rs 85 million.

Commercial banks and hydropower companies gained with 4.13 points and 7.49 points, respectively. The top loser was the development bank group by 16.32 points to 564.19 points. Other losers were finance companies (11.69 points), manufacturing (4.21 points) and insurance (0.97 points).

Vibhor Banks topped all three categories — transaction amount (Rs 25.87 million), units of share (70,000 units) and number of transactions (1,211).

Top five performers were Vibhor Bank (Rs 25.87 million), Standard Chartered Bank (Rs 25.72 million), Annapurna Development Bank (Rs 13.69), Bank of Kathmandu (Rs 7.39 million) and Citizens’ Bank International (Rs 5054 million).