The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) witnessed a sharp decline on Tuesday, shedding 41.78 points to close at 2,833.57, a drop of 1.45 percent from the previous trading day.

This downturn follows a modest rebound on Monday when the benchmark index had closed at 2,875. Analysts attributed the fall to profit-taking by investors and weakening market sentiment.

Out of the traded companies, share prices of 204 firms declined while only 46 recorded gains. The trading session saw 222.07 million shares change hands across 130,953 transactions, amounting to a total turnover of Rs9.33 billion. This marks a notable decrease from Monday’s turnover of Rs10.82 billion.

Shares of Samaj Laghubitta and Unnati Sahakarya Laghubitta surged by the daily limit of 10 percent, triggering a circuit breaker. In contrast, Three Star Hydropower hit the lower circuit after falling by 10 percent.

Despite pockets of resilience in select microfinance stocks, the overall market trend remained bearish, with most sectors posting losses.