KATHMANDU: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index recorded a significant rise on the back of strong gains, accompanied by a notable improvement in trading volume. On Wednesday, the NEPSE index increased by 42.26 points to settle at 2,714.81 points, marking a gain of 1.58 percent.

According to NEPSE, a total of 25,185,647 shares of 339 companies were traded through 115,181 transactions, generating a total turnover of Rs 11.85 billion (Rs 11,858,421,070).

All sectoral indices closed in positive territory during the day’s trading. The banking sector rose by 1.24 percent, development banks by 1.45 percent, finance by 0.97 percent, hotels and tourism by 3.36 percent, hydropower by 1.77 percent, and the investment group by 2.54 percent.

Similarly, the life insurance sector gained 1.86 percent, manufacturing and processing 1.39 percent, microfinance 1.54 percent, mutual funds 1.04 percent, non-life insurance 1.65 percent, trading 0.37 percent, and the others group rose by 1.44 percent.

In today’s trading, Gurkhas Finance Limited hit the positive circuit breaker. Meanwhile, SBL Debenture 2089 emerged as the biggest loser, with its share price declining by 4.23 percent.