Kathmandu, April 21 -- The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index declined by 7.75 points on Monday, closing at 2,698.28-a drop of 0.28 percent.

The total daily turnover stood at Rs8.77 billion, with 21.2 million shares traded. A total of 112 companies advanced, 133 declined, and one remained unchanged.

Among the sub-indices, the trading index recorded the highest loss, falling by 70.44 points (1.52 percent). The finance index followed with a decline of 26.17 points (1.03 percent), while the banking index dropped 11.74 points (0.85 percent). In contrast, the hydropower sector gained 27.36 points (0.77 percent), and the development bank index rose by 24.66 points (0.43 percent).

The top five gainers of the day included Nepal Micro Insurance...