KATHMANDU, July 6 -- Stocks traded flat in the first trading hour on Monday. Nonetheless, the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index witnessed a steady surge after midday adding more than 20 points. The benchmark plateaued somewhat in the afternoon until a final hour advance drove the market over 33.27 points higher. Nepse closed Monday's trading at 1,298.73 points.

With gains coming in from two straight sessions, the index pared most of its losses that came on Thursday when it tanked six percent. The market seems to have found a somewhat stable ground with volatility subsiding in the recent sessions. Further, turnover has also remained upbeat in the last couple of days with around Rs 1 billion worth of securities traded daily. The exchange ...