KATHMANDU, March 30: Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) declined 12.93 points last week, despite the banks announcing reduction in their interest rates on lending.  

The market held transactions for four days with the government declaring a public holiday on Sunday to celebrate Holi. The market opened at 2,048.57 points on Monday and closed at 2,035.64 points on Thursday. In the review period, the market went as high as 2,053.47 points while it plunged to as low as 2,023.21 points, witnessing volatility of 30.26 points.

The market started the week with a double digit fall of 17.01 points on Monday. On Tuesday, the market surged by 10.14 points. On Wednesday the market declined by 10.83 points, which was followed by a marginal increase of 4.78 points on Thursday.  

The total turnover amount declined to 9.73 billion from Rs 17.71 billion in the previous week. The average daily turnover also plunged to Rs 2.43 billion from Rs 3.54 billion.

Among the four gaining groups, manufacturing and processing added the highest of 528.59 points, which was followed by hydropower, investment and mutual funds. Out of the nine losers, non-life insurance, life insurance and microfinance shed three-digit points.  

The market capitalization fell to Rs 3.227 trillion from Rs 3.248 trillion in the previous week. It made the shares investors lose Rs 21 billion in their portfolios.