KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a substantial downturn on Thursday, with the index falling by 10 points by the close of trading.

The most pronounced decline was observed in the life insurance sector, where the index plummeted by 82 points.

Trading data revealed that transactions were subdued compared to previous sessions, with 86,63,699 shares valued at NPR 3,087,074,000 changing hands in 53,017 transactions.

In sectoral performance, the finance group showed resilience, recording a gain of 42.02 points.

Within this group, 11 companies saw an increase in their share prices, while prices remained unchanged for 3 companies and decreased for 1.

Overall, NEPSE reported declines across 186 companies, affecting share prices in 12 out of 13 sectors.

A total of 306 companies were listed for trading, with prices stabilizing for 8 companies.

On the indices front, the sensitive index dropped by 2.69 points, the float index by 0.73 points, and the sensitive float index by 0.93 points on Thursday.

This downturn reflects the challenges currently faced by the NEPSE amid broader economic uncertainties.