KATHMANDU, MARCH 29

The country's sole secondary market on the first trading day of the week closed with Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index slumping 5.45 points to 2,543.52, today.

The benchmark index that had opened at 2,543.23 on Monday fell by 0.21 per cent.

Likewise, the sensitive index measuring the performance of Class 'A' stocks went down to 449.92 points with a loss of 0.39. The float index that gauges the performance of shares actually traded sunk by 0.07 per cent to 174.87 points.

A total of 9,138,935 unit shares of altogether 209 companies were traded at Rs 4.41 billion in the market today. After the share transaction, market capitalisation crossed Rs 3.512 trillion, according to the NEPSE.

The majority of sub-indices recorded loss today with the exception of Finance, Hydropower, and Microfinance indices which recorded gains with hydropower recording a 1.07 per cent gain to reach 2,319.48 points, a 24.52 points change, followed by microfinance with a 0.96 per cent rise to stand at 4,670.77 points (44.50 points change) and finance index with 0.45 per cent change, a 5.20 point rise to 1,165.01 points.

Unnati Sahakarya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (USLB), Ajod Insurance Limited (AIL), Mahila Lagubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (MLBSL), and Summit Laghu Bitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SMFDB) were the top gainers while Chandragiri Hills Limited (CGH), Mountain Hydro Nepal Limited and Salt Trading Corporation were the top losers in today's trading.