NEPSE falls 25.11 points last week despite 16.30 percent rise in average turnover

Kathmandu, August 22, 2026 — The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index declined 25.11 points, or 0.95 percent, last week as the secondary market ended lower despite a rise in average daily trading turnover.

The secondary market opened the week at 2,643.83 points and closed at 2,618.72 points. During the week, the index climbed to a high of 2,648.57 points and dropped to a low of 2,608.38 points, resulting in a fluctuation of 40.19 points.

The market declined in four of the five trading sessions. Thursday was the only session to record a gain, when the NEPSE index rose 7.17 points. The steepest single-day fall came on Tuesday, when the index dropped 19.34 points.

At the sectoral level, the Trading and Manufacturing and Processing indices were the only two to advance, gaining 13.29 points and 11.65 points, respectively.

The remaining 11 sectoral indices declined. The Life Insurance index recorded the largest point-based loss, falling 210.41 points, while the Finance index posted the steepest percentage decline, dropping 2.37 percent.

Among individual companies, Khani Khola Hydropower Company recorded the biggest decline, with its share price falling 23.39 percent. Sarbottam Paints Industries Limited was the week’s top gainer, with its share price increasing 101.06 percent.

Despite the fall in the benchmark index, average daily turnover increased to Rs 4.493 billion from Rs 3.864 billion in the previous week, a rise of 16.30 percent.

Market capitalisation, however, declined to Rs 4.504 trillion from Rs 4.547 trillion. The Rs 43.2 billion reduction in market capitalisation translated into a corresponding decline in the book value of investors’ holdings. Investors had recorded a loss of around Rs 7 billion in market value during the previous week.