Kathmandu, Sept 24: The Nepse stock index fell by 27 points on Wednesday as investors booked profits ahead of the Dashain festival. The index dropped 27.89 points to 2,654.35 points today, after rising 58.63 points to 2,682.25 points on Tuesday.

Turnover with NEPSE also declined, with 9.48 million shares worth Rs 4.124821 billion traded across 317 stocks today, compared to 11.353 million shares worth Rs 5.29273925 billion traded on Tuesday. Out of 193 companies traded, only 53 recorded gains.

The Sensitive Index fell by 4.97 points, the Float Index by 1.95 points, and the Sensitive Float Index by 1.76 points. Shares of Upper Mailung Khola Hydropower, City Hotel and Him Star Energy hit positive circuit levels. Citizens Mutual Fund and Vision Lumbini Energy Company rose by 8 percent, while Unnati Cooperation Microfinance declined by 5.38 percent.

Union Hydropower led with a turnover of Rs 221.3 million, followed by Nepal Reinsurance at Rs 173.2 million and Himalayan Reinsurance at Rs 130 million. Of the 13 subgroups, only Hotel and Tourism and Mutual Fund increased, while the remaining 11 subgroups declined. The “Others” subgroup fell the most at 2.16 percent, while development bank, finance, investment, life insurance and trade subgroups also dropped by more than 1 percent. Overall, despite some gains, the market closed lower for most subgroups and companies.