Equity transactions reopened on a downturn as the reign of the bears was unabated on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), causing market capitalisation to dip further by N46billion.
Specifically, at the end of trading yesterday, the All-Share Index shed 125.91 absolute points, representing a decline of 0.34 per cent to close at 37,266.86 points.
Similarly, the market capitalisation declined by N46billion to close at N13.500trillion.
The downturn was occasioned by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Chemical & Allied Products (CAP), PZ Industries, Forte Oil, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust (UPDCREIT), and Custodian & Allied Insurance.
Analysts at APT Securities and Funds Limited, said: “stocks that have shed weight could be considered for medium to long term positioning. Nevertheless, we advise investors to tread with caution with respect to equities market continuous wave between the north and south poles.”
Market breadth closed negative, with eight gainers versus 32 losers. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (Nahco) recorded the highest price gain of 9.97 per cent, to close at N4.08 per share.
Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 8.70 per cent to close at 25kobo, while Lasaco Assurance appreciated by 5.88 per cent to close at 36kobo per share.
UAC of Nigeria (UACN) appreciated by 5.26 per cent to close at N14, while Flour Mills gained 3.10 per cent to close at N29.90 per share.
On the other hand, Learn Africa, Multiverse Mining & Exploration, PZ Industries, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust and Wema Bank led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each, to close at N1.26, 36kobo, N17.10, N9, and 63kobo per share, respectively.
However, the total volume traded rose by 42.56 per cent to 303.48 million shares worth N2.04billion traded in 3,402 deals. Transactions in the shares of MedView Airline topped the activity chart with 100.01 million shares valued at N198.38million.
FBN Holdings followed with 42.87 million shares worth N445.84 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 40.55 million shares valued at N51.48million.
Multiverse Mining & Exploration traded 20.89 million shares valued at N4.18million, while Zenith Bank transacted 16.61 million shares worth N398.49million.
