Kathmandu: Nepal’s stock market closed higher on Thursday continuing the upward trend that began the previous day, Wednesday.

Index Climbs Across the Board

The NEPSE index gained 8.78 points to close at 2,661.71 on Thursday. Other market indicators also moved up, the Sensitive Index rose 3.89 points, the Float Index gained 0.99 points and the Sensitive Float Index added 1.39 points.

Banking Sector Drives the Gains

The banking sub index was the main reason behind the day’s rise climbing 2.04 percent, the highest gain among all sectors. Out of 13 sub indices tracked, 5 rose while 8 fell. Besides banking, the finance, life insurance, microfinance and mutual fund sub groups also posted small gains.

Trading Volume Increases

Trading activity picked up along with the index. On Wednesday, shares worth Rs 3.86 billion changed hands. On Thursday, that figure rose to Rs 4.12 billion with 8,964,223 shares of 359 companies traded across 43,131 transactions.

Stocks Hitting Circuit Limits

Four stocks hit the positive circuit level during the day’s trading, Upper Lohore Khola Hydropower, Kalanga Hydro, Snow Rivers and Sanigad Hydro.

Among other notable movers, Dhaulagiri Microfinance’s share price jumped more than 13.5 percent while Atmanirbhar Microfinance rose 10 percent. On the losing side, the 10% NIC Asia Debenture 2085/86 saw the biggest drop falling 10.60 percent.

Top Traded Stocks

By trading value, Laxmi Sunrise Bank topped the list with shares worth Rs 413.2 million traded during the day. The 10% NIC Asia Debenture 2085/86 followed with debentures worth more than Rs 405 million bought and sold. Reliance Spinning Mills also saw strong activity with trading value crossing Rs 250 million.