Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, on Wednesday, March 8, closed in the Reds.
The negative run on the bourse was driven by selloffs in major industrial goods stocks pushing the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses to 1.35 percent and 7.03 percent respectively.
The All Share Index depreciated by 0.57 percent to close at 24,986.02 points, leaving market breadth negative, with 10 gainers paired against 16 losers.
Unilever sat atop the advancers’ chart with adding N1.40 per share, while Eterna Plc led the day’s loser with a loss of 0.31 kobo per share.
Activities in the sectoral indices remained weak as Industrial Goods index slumped by 3.47 percent driven by selloffs in the shares of cement manufacturers, Ashaka Cement Plc and Dangote Cement Plc both depreciated by 7.91 percent and 2.85 percent apiece.
The Banking and Oil & Gas indices dipped 0.12 percent and 2.52 percent each, as investors liquidated their holdings in the shares of top tier lenders.
Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc both dipped by 0.68 percent and 0.31 percent respectively. While Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and Forte Oil Plc slumped by 5.00 percent and 4.99 percent respectively.
On the flip side, gains recorded in the shares of Unilever Nigeria Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc by 5.00 percent and 4.99 percent bolstered the Consumer Goods index by 3.01 percent, while the Insurance Index closed flat.
At the close of the trading, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market leaped marginally by 1.56 percent to 218.72 million shares, valued at N3.90 billion, and exchanged in 3,191 deals.
