After gaining for two consecutive trading days, the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) edged down on Wednesday, falling by 4.98 points to close at 2,561.08—down 0.19 percent from the previous day.

Of the companies traded, share prices of 77 advanced, while 170 declined and nine remained unchanged. The larger number of falling stocks pulled the benchmark index into negative territory.

A total of 8.39 million shares changed hands in 50,626 transactions, amounting to Rs3.77 billion in turnover—lower than Tuesday’s trading value of Rs4.10 billion.

Of the 13 sub-indices, only the hotels, manufacturing and processing, mutual fund, and trading groups posted gains. All other sub-indices closed lower, according to Nepse.