KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index decreased by 34.63 points to close at 2,704.08 points. On Monday (today), the first trading day of the week, the trading volume also declined alongside the NEPSE index. While shares worth Rs 4.91 billion were traded last Thursday, the turnover fell to Rs 4.26 billion today.

In Monday’s market, the share prices of 27 companies increased, while 240 companies saw a decline, and two companies remained stable. The top companies with the highest turnover on Monday included NRN Infrastructure, Reliance Spinning Mills, National Hydropower, Ankhu Khola Jalvidhyut Company, and NIC Asia Bank.

Indicators for all sectors declined except for microfinance. The Microfinance remained in the green by just under 1 point. Three sectors Hydropower, Development Bank, and Manufacturing fell by more than 2 percent. Banking decreased by 0.86 percent, Development Bank by 2.14 percent, Finance by 0.96 percent, Hotels and Tourism by 1.35 percent, Hydropower by 2.23 percent, Investment by 1.36 percent, Life Insurance by 0.49 percent, Manufacturing and Processing by 2.54 percent, Non-Life Insurance by 0.93 percent, Others by 0.50 percent, and Trading by 1.38 percent.

The share price of Forward Microfinance saw the highest increase of 15 percent. Similarly, Jhapa Energy rose by 7.99 percent. Debentures were among the top gainers on Monday. On the other hand, the share price of Corporate Development Bank faced the steepest decline of 12.58 percent. The share prices of Maikhola Hydropower fell by 8.59 percent, Narayani Development Bank by 8.56 percent, and Salpa Bikas Bank by 8.01 percent.