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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 5. 17 points to close at 2, 566. 16 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 1. 56 points to close at 447. 41 points.

A total of 11,501,284-unit shares of 321 companies were traded for Rs 5. 45 billion.

Meanwhile, Khanikhola Hydropower Co. Ltd. (KKHC) was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10. 00 percent.
Likewise, Jyoti Bikash Bank Bond 2087 (JBBD87) was the top loser as its price fell by 5. 66 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 1. 45 trillion.

Rescue efforts are underway for 12 domestic tourists and three British women who are stranded due to heavy snowfall in Hidden Valley, Mustang. 

Spokesperson of the Nepal Army, Rajaram Basnet, said that efforts are underway to airlift 12 domestic tourists and three British women stranded in Hidden Valley, adding that continuous snowfall and bad weather have caused some problems in the rescue bid.

“The tourists are in normal (health) condition, and coordination with the travel company for rescue is underway,” he said.

The 15 tourists were stranded in the valley after continuous snowfall from Monday night covered the trekking route while travelling from Mudi, Dhawalagiri Rural Municipality-4 in Myagdi via the Italian base camp to Marpha, Gharapjhong Rural Municipality-2 in Mustang.

Meanwhile, a team of security personnel have rescued around 1,500 tourists trapped in the upper region of Manang due to continuous snowfall.

According to the Army spokesperson Basnet, 1,500 people, including 200 foreign tourists stranded in various places of Tilicho, Khangsar, Pisang, Upper Manang and Humde areas of Manang, have been rescued.

The rescue team deployed from the Nepal Army's New Bhairavidal Company in Manang, in collaboration with the local administration, people's representatives, the Armed Police Force Nepal, and Nepal Police, had brought the tourists to a safe location.

Sixteen representatives from political parties and 14 from the Gen-Z group are expected to participate in the tripartite talks convened by Prime Minister Sushila Karki for 4pm today.

Office-bearers and second-tier leaders of major political parties represented in the dissolved House of Representatives are expected to attend the discussions at the Prime Minister's official residence at Baluwatar.

The Prime Minister's Secretariat said that the agenda includes discussions on creating an overall environment for the elections scheduled for March 5, 2026, forging political understanding, and other related matters.

The government has been holding a series of talks and discussions with the concerned parties regarding the successful conduction of the House of Representatives election on the announced date.

Earlier, discussions were held on October 21 between the government and political parties at the invitation of Prime Minister Karki. Similarly, discussions have taken place between Prime Minister Karki and the Gen-Z group in the presence of President Ram Chandra Paudel in that connection.

The Supreme Court (SC) has formed a Constitutional Bench to hear writ petitions filed against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR).

According to SC Spokesperson Arjun Prasad Koirala, the Bench comprises Chief Justice Prakashman Singh Raut and Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Phuyal, and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma.

On the night of September 12, the President dissolved the Parliament on the recommendation of the incumbent government, which was formed following the September 8–9 Gen-Z protests that had forced former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to step down from his position.

A total of 16 writ petitions have been registered at the SC, demanding a mandamus order to revoke the dissolution of the lower house and restore it. The preliminary hearing begins today.

The hearing will take place in the SC Annex Building, as the main building was damaged in an arson attack during the September 9 protests. The incident led to the suspension of the Court’s regular activities, except for the registration of habeas corpus and other essential writs and hearings. Writ registration and hearings resumed on October 14.

Advocates Dr Premraj Silwal, Yubaraj Paudel, Kirtinath Sharma Paudel, Ayush Badal, Maqabul Miya, Khadak Bahadur Shah, Dambar Prasad Shiwakoti, Dal Bahadur Dhami, Prakash Bhujel, and Bipin Dhakal are among the petitioners.

Earlier, a full court meeting chaired by Chief Justice Raut had decided to register and hear the writ petitions related to the Parliament’s dissolution.

Meanwhile, the SC’s digital system that was damaged during the arson and vandalism has been restored, with all case data found to be safe. The Supreme Court is now operating five benches to hear cases.

China's state-owned COFCO bought three U.S. soybean cargoes, two trade sources said, the country's first purchases from this year's U.S. harvest, shortly before a summit of leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, Reuters reported.

As the two nations battle over trade tariffs, the lack of Chinese buying has cost U.S. farmers billions of dollars in lost sales, after they largely supported Trump in his campaigns for president.

Although COFCO's deal for December-January shipment of about 180,000 metric tons of soybeans was China's first such buy in months, traders do not expect a significant resumption in demand for U.S. cargoes after recent large South American purchases, according to Reuters .

COFCO did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

U.S. President Donald Trump began the final leg of his Asia trip in South Korea on Wednesday, optimistic about advancing an unresolved tariff deal with the country's President Lee Jae Myung and striking a trade war truce with China's Xi Jinping, Reuters reported.

Arriving from Tokyo hours after North Korea test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile, Trump was treated to a lavish reception by Lee in Gyeongju, a sleepy town hosting this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, before Thursday's talks with Xi.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to South Korea earlier, Trump dismissed the North Korea missile test and said he was squarely focused on his meeting with the leader of the world's second-largest economy, according to Reuters.

At least 33 Palestinians were killed in a wave of Israeli strikes in Gaza on Tuesday night, the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency and hospitals say, BBC reported.

Israel carried out the strikes in response to what it said were violations by Hamas of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.

Israel's defence minister accused Hamas of an attack in southern Gaza that killed an Israeli soldier on Tuesday, and of breaching the terms on returning deceased hostages' bodies. Hamas claimed it had "no connection" to the attack and insisted it was committed to the ceasefire deal.

US President Donald Trump maintained "nothing" would jeopardise the ceasefire, but added that Israel should "hit back" when its soldiers were targeted, according to BBC.

England's Aggie Beever-Jones, Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway scored in a 3-0 victory over 10-player Australia in a friendly on Tuesday at Derby's Pride Park, as the European champions bounced back from their 2-1 loss to Brazil on Saturday, Reuters reported.

The friendly was overshadowed by what appeared to be a serious knee injury to Michelle Agyemang, who was carried off on a stretcher.

In the first meeting between the two teams since England dispatched Australia in the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup, Beever-Jones struck in the 20th minute when her free kick hit the wall and Bronze passed the ball back out to her for a powerful shot into the top corner, according to Reuters.