KATHMANDU: The downward journey of the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) remained unchecked this week. On Friday, the fifth and final trading day of the week, the benchmark index extended its losses, shedding single digits after a day marked by high volatility.

The NEPSE index edged down by 2.00 points (0.07%) to close at 2649.51 points. This follows a series of losses throughout the week: the index fell by 8.50 points on Thursday, 14.45 points on Wednesday, 26.16 points on Tuesday, and 1.46 points on Monday.

Other major indices followed a similar downward trajectory on Friday, as the Sensitive Index dropped by 0.55 points (0.12%) to close at 457.68 points, while the Float Index and Sensitive Float Index declined by 0.18% and 0.14% respectively.

Despite the continuous drop in the market index, the overall daily turnover witnessed a notable increase compared to the previous trading day. A total of 7,727,649 shares changed hands through 39,546 transactions involving 359 companies, resulting in a total turnover of Rs. 3,94,58,04,552.

This marks a recovery from Thursday’s turnover of Rs. 2,83,82,79,411, though it remains lower than the figures recorded earlier in the week: Rs. 4,41,86,07,486 on Wednesday, Rs. 4,36,21,94,771 on Tuesday, and Rs. 4,44,65,20,247 on Monday.

Out of the total listed companies, the stock prices of 85 companies advanced, 170 companies declined, while 20 companies remained unchanged.

Among the 13 traded sub-indices, 5 sectors gained while 8 sectors closed in the red. Commercial Bank fell by 0.06%, Development Bank by 0.27%, Finance by 0.31%, Investment by 0.58%, Life Insurance by 0.05%, Manufacturing & Processing by 0.38%, Microfinance by 0.56%, and the Others sector index dropped by 0.07%.

On the positive side, Hotels & Tourism rose by 0.23%, Hydro Power by 0.06%, Mutual Fund by 0.23%, Non-Life Insurance by 0.54%, and the Trading sector index jumped by 1.08%.

In individual stock movements, Snow Rivers Limited hit a positive circuit breaker as its share price surged by a maximum of 15%. Conversely, Kalika Microfinance Financial Institution Limited became the biggest loser of the day, with its share price plunging by 10.76%.

In terms of financial volume, Global IME Bank Debenture topped the charts with a massive turnover of Rs. 33,16,57,305. Meanwhile, Ankhu Khola Hydropower Company Limited led the market in terms of traded share volume, with 419,420 shares changing hands, closing at a final price of Rs. 362 per share.