Nepal, March 19 -- Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) on Wednesday declined by 14.88 points to close at 2,682.15 points.

The secondary market opened at 2,697.04 points and escalated to the day's high at 2,706.32 points within the first one hour of trading. However, the market slid in the next moment and reached the day's low at 2,676.77 points in the last half an hour. The market recovered around six points in the remaining period before it closed for the day.

Three groups including trading, hotels and tourism, and mutual funds were the gainers, with the trading index gaining the largest of 25 points. Out of the 10 losing groups, the life-insurance index declined the largest of 200.78 points.

The sensitive index which measures the performanc...