Kathmandu, Dec. 16 -- The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) Index continued its upward momentum on Tuesday, rising by 18.37 points as gains in most sectors lifted the benchmark.

The index climbed 0.70 percent from the previous session to close at 2,619.99 points. On Monday, the market had gained 6.74 points.

Market breadth remained strongly positive, with share prices of 187 companies advancing, while 61 declined and 11 remained unchanged. The broad-based buying supported the overall rise in the index.

Except for the trading group, all sub-indices closed higher. The trading sub-index slipped by 0.52 points. Hotel and tourism led the gains with a jump of 103.13 points, followed by non-life insurance (96.87 points), life insurance (92.07 poin...