Kathmandu, March 10 -- The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index fell sharply on Tuesday as investors moved to secure profits following Monday's strong rally.

The benchmark index dropped by 32.08 points to close at 2,843.35. The decline came a day after the market had surged by 162 points and triggered three positive circuit breakers on Monday, closing at 2,875.43.

Market analysts said the fall was largely driven by short-term investors booking profits after the previous day's sharp gains.

Of the companies traded on Tuesday, share prices of 78 firms increased while 178 declined. The share prices of five companies remained unchanged.

A total of 52.71 million shares were traded through 205,611 transactions during the day, with the total tu...