Kathmandu — The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) index declined for the fourth consecutive trading day on Thursday, falling by 17.01 points to close at 2,787.15.

With this drop, the benchmark index slipped below the 2,800 mark again after 10 trading days. Previously, NEPSE had closed below this level on Chaitra 24.

On Thursday, the sensitive index fell by 2.94 points, the float index by 1.34 points, and the sensitive float index by 1.16 points. Alongside the index decline, total trading volume also decreased.

While the market had recorded a turnover of Rs 7.81 billion on Wednesday, Thursday’s trading saw 11.375 million shares of 348 companies traded, amounting to Rs 5.09 billion.

Despite the overall market downturn, shares of Palpa Cement Industries and Shikhar Power Development hit positive circuit limits. Similarly, Corporate Development Bank saw its share price rise by nearly 9.5 percent.

On the other hand, Suryakunda Hydroelectric, which had been hitting consecutive positive circuits in recent days, recorded the highest loss of 11.79 percent.

In terms of turnover, Reliance Spinning Mills topped the list with transactions worth Rs 304.25 million. It was followed by Solu Hydropower and Ankhukhola Hydropower Company with around Rs 260 million each, and Hotel Forest Inn with over Rs 220 million in trades.

Out of the 13 sub-indices, 11 declined, while manufacturing & processing and trading sectors posted slight gains. The hotel and tourism sector saw the highest drop of 1.42 percent, followed by declines of over 1 percent in finance, hydropower, and non-life insurance sectors.