KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index witnessed a slight increase today, while the overall transaction volume soared to nearly Rs 21.5 billion.

The NEPSE index rose by a modest 0.32 points to settle at 2,870.95.

According to NEPSE, a total of 51,658,385 shares of 316 companies were traded in 178,176 transactions today, generating a total turnover of Rs 21.46 billion.

Despite the overall gain, several sectoral indices declined.

The banking index fell by 1.38%, development banks by 0.08%, finance by 2.26%, hydropower by 0.42%, investment by 0.16%, manufacturing and processing by 1.12%, microfinance by 0.02%, and trading by 0.50%.

Meanwhile, other sectors posted gains. The hotel and tourism sector rose by 1.24%, life insurance by 1.40%, mutual funds by 0.25%, non-life insurance by 1.37%, and the “others” group saw a significant jump of 3.36%.

Shares of Unnati Sahakarya Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. and Sanvi Energy Ltd. hit the positive circuit limit today.

In contrast, Samriddhi Finance Company Ltd. recorded the steepest fall, with its share price dropping by 8.88%.

In terms of transaction amount, Nepal Re-Insurance Company Ltd. led the day with shares worth Rs 985.5 million traded.

By volume, Citizens Super-30 Mutual Fund saw the highest activity, with 3.107 million units changing hands.