KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index dropped by 8.14 points to close at 2,728.03 points. In Thursday’s market, the share prices of 82 companies advanced and 178 companies declined, while 13 companies remained unchanged. Along with the NEPSE index, the total trading volume also decreased on Thursday.

While transactions worth Rs 4.29 billion were recorded on Wednesday, shares worth Rs 3.906 billion were traded on Thursday. Among the most heavily traded companies on Thursday, City Hotel, Central Finance, Bungal Hydropower, People’s Hydropower, and Ankhukhola Hydropower Company led the pack.

The finance group witnessed the highest drop of 1.45 percent. Trading declined by 1.23 percent, banking by 0.25 percent, development banks by 0.51 percent, hydropower by 0.18 percent, investment by 0.22 percent, life insurance by 0.21 percent, microfinance by 0.28 percent, non-life insurance by 0.17 percent, and others by 0.91 percent. Conversely, hotels and tourism surged by 0.47 percent, and manufacturing and processing increased by 0.26 percent.

The share prices of two newly listed companies surged by 15 percent. The stock values of Sopan Pharmaceuticals and Apollo Hydropower each jumped by 15 percent. Similarly, the prices of Bottlers Nepal Balaju rose by 8.33 percent, Upper Lohore Khola by 6.07 percent, and People’s Hydropower by 5.33 percent. On the losing side, Saptakoshi Development Bank plunged by 13.51 percent, Rawa Energy by 4.37 percent, and Reliance Finance dropped by 3.88 percent.