The bears maintained dominance at the end of yesterday’s transactions on the equity sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), following price losses incurred by most highly capitalised stocks, as market capitalisation depreciated further by N94 billion.
Specifically, the All-Share Index (ASI) shed 257.62 absolute points, representing a decline of 0.79 per cent to close at 32,454.03 points. Also, the market capitalisation declined by N94 billion to close at N11.848 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries, Unilever Nigeria, FBN Holdings, and Access Bank.
Analysts at Cordros Capital said: “Our outlook for equities in the near to medium term remains conservative, in the absence of a near term one-off positive catalyst; and more so, amidst political uncertainty ahead of the upcoming general elections. However, stable macro-economic fundamentals remain supportive of recovery in the long term.”
However, market breadth closed slightly positive, with 15 gainers versus 14 losers. Diamond Bank recorded the highest price gain of 5.08 per cent to close at N1.24 per share. Cutix gained 4.88 per cent to close at N4.30, while Dangote Sugar appreciated by 4.32 per cent to close at N14.50 per share. Lasaco Assurance rose by 3.23 per cent to close at 32 kobo, while Fidelity Bank gained 2.78 per cent to close at N1.85 per share.
On the other hand, Niger Insurance led the losers’ chart by 8.82 per cent, to close at 31 kobo per share. Mutual Benefits Assurance followed with a decline of 7.14 per cent to close at 26 kobo, while Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 4.35 per cent to close at 22 kobo per share. Jaiz Bank declined by 3.85 per cent to close at 50 kobo, and Aiico Insurance also shed 3.75 per cent to close at 77 kobo per share.
The total volume traded depreciated by 25.93 per cent to 136.73 million shares worth N1.43 billion, traded in 2,801 deals.Transactions in the shares of FCMB Group topped the activity chart with 38.38 million shares valued at N65.72 million.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with 20.81 million shares worth N172.54 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 19.18 million shares valued at N35.34 million.Access Bank traded 7.9 million shares valued at N64.15 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 6.71 million shares worth N145.77 million.
