Kathmandu, Oct. 17 -- The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) entered the Dashain holiday after seven consecutive sessions of gains, with banking and insurance shares leading the five-session rally over the week. Rising turnover points to improving investor confidence, but analysts say the rally will need stronger trading activity and broader participation to sustain its momentum after the holiday.

The benchmark index gained 42.37 points, or 1.63 percent, over five trading sessions from October 12 to 16, closing at 2,634.17 points. Market capitalisation rose by Rs70 billion to Rs4.53 trillion from Rs4.46 trillion a week earlier.

Total turnover increased 22.18 percent to Rs22.53 billion from Rs18.44 billion in the previous week, averaging Rs4.5...