The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index surged by 53.01 points on Wednesday to close at 2,819.10, marking a 1.91 percent gain.

The market recorded a turnover of Rs7.68 billion with 14.98 million shares traded. Investor sentiment remained strongly positive, as 232 companies advanced while only 19 declined, with none unchanged.

The Development Bank sub-index led the rally with a sharp 3.40 percent rise to 5,985.05. The manufacturing and processing index followed with a 2.69 percent jump to 7,727.60, while the trading index gained 2.68 percent to 4,206.02.

Life insurance stocks also posted strong growth, lifting the sub-index by 2.21 percent to 13,281.52. The investment and others indices added 2.19 and 2.14 percent, respectively.

Among the remaining sectors, banking gained 1.38 percent, hydropower 1.85 percent, finance 1.98 percent, hotels and tourism 1.66 percent, and non-life insurance 1.68 percent. Microfinance rose modestly by 1.09 percent, while the mutual fund index saw the smallest increase of the day at 0.47 percent.