Kathmandu, Dec. 21 -- The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index fell by 19.92 points on Sunday, pulling the benchmark down to 2,595.10-its first return to the 2,500 range in 19 trading days. The index dropped 0.76 percent compared to Thursday's close.

Nepse had last closed below 2,600 on Mangsir 4, at 2,560.29 points. Since then, it had hovered around the 2,600 mark before slipping back amid broad-based selling pressure.

On Sunday, 43 companies recorded gains, while 207 declined and seven remained unchanged. The larger number of losing stocks contributed to the overall market fall.

A total of 112.99 million shares were traded in 70,576 transactions, amounting to Rs4.52 billion in turnover.

All major sub-indices declined except mutual fun...