KATHMANDU: On the final trading day of the week on Friday (today), the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) increased by 5.36 points. Rising by 0.18 percent compared to the previous trading day, NEPSE settled at the 2,838.40 mark.

On this day, the Sensitive Index decreased by 0.58 points to stop at 476.87 points. In terms of percentage, this is 0.12 percent lower than the previous trading day. Similarly, the float index decreased by 0.01 percent and the sensitive float index by 0.18 percent.

In the share market on Friday, at least 18,063,728 unit shares of 335 companies were traded through 96,573 transactions. Accordingly, a turnover of Rs 7.46 billion was recorded on Friday.

On Monday, a turnover of Rs 8.665 billion was recorded. Due to the public holiday for the New Year, there was no trading on NEPSE on Tuesday (April 14). On Wednesday, a turnover of Rs 10.537 billion was recorded, while Thursday saw a turnover of Rs 9.312 billion.

The share prices of 108 companies increased in the share market today. While the share prices of 150 companies declined, those of 12 companies remained stable.

Out of the 13 sectors traded on NEPSE today, the indicators of five groups rose while eight sub-indices declined. Accordingly, on Friday, the Commercial Bank group index fell by 0.27 percent, the Development Bank by 0.38 percent, and Finance by 0.34 percent. Similarly, the sub-indices for Hotel and Tourism and the Hydropower group rose by 1.38 percent and 0.67 percent, respectively. The investment group fell by 0.16 percent and life insurance by 0.07 percent. The Manufacturing and Processing group sub-index rose by 1.40 percent.

Furthermore, microfinance decreased by 0.33 percent, mutual funds by 0.13 percent, and the non-life insurance group by 0.53 points. The Others and Trading group sub-indices increased by 0.56 percent and 0.03 percent, respectively.

On Friday, the share prices of four companies hit the positive circuit breaker on NEPSE. Those hitting the positive circuit include Suryakunda Hydro Electric, Hotel Forest Inn, Palpa Cement Industries, and Shikhar Power Development. This means investors in these four companies earned 10 percent.

In contrast, investors in Asian Hydropower faced a loss of 4.54 percent.

In terms of turnover amount, National Hydropower Company remained at the forefront. Today, a turnover of Rs 668.6 million was recorded for National Hydropower.

Similarly, in terms of the number of shares traded, National Hydropower Company was the leader again today. At least 2,116,424 unit shares of National Hydropower were bought and sold on Friday. On Thursday, at least 1,732,317 unit shares of National Hydropower were traded, following 1,728,398 units on Wednesday. Its final trading price on Friday was maintained at Rs 318 per unit.