KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a double-digit decline on Sunday, the first trading day of the week. The NEPSE index fell by 21 points, dropping to 1826.23 points today.

The stock market index decreased by 1.16 percent. NEPSE, which saw the share prices of 197 companies decline, could not recover from its downward trajectory. Meanwhile, the share prices of 35 companies rose, and four remained stable today.

A total of 3,558,554 units of shares from 289 scripts were traded, with a total turnover of 972.3 million rupees through 39,322 transactions today. As NEPSE decreased, the sensitive index also declined by 5.36 points, remaining at 352.39 points. In terms of sub-indicators, all groups, except for hotels and tourism, recorded negative performances, with the business group experiencing a 2.11 percent decline.

The founder shares of Nabil Bank had the highest turnover today, with transactions worth 46 million rupees. Global IME Bank’s transactions amounted to 31.7 million rupees, followed by NIC Asia Bank, Himalayan Distillery, and Nabil Bank’s ordinary shares in the top 5 based on turnover on Sunday.

Despite the decrease in NEPSE, the share price of NIC Asia Microfinance increased by 6.97 percent. Shareholders of Taragaon Regency, Mayakhola Hydro, Asian Hydro, and National Microfinance also gained the most. Himalaya Microfinance shares topped the list of price decliners.

Shareholders of Barahi Hydro saw a 7.98 percent loss in their assets due to a negative circuit in Himalayan’s share price. Similarly, United Idi Mardi RB Hydro, Nabil Balanced Fund 2, and all microfinance shares led the list of highest-price decliners on the first trading day of the week.