By Chinwendu Obienyi
Nigeria’s equities market continued on a negative path as the All Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.14 per cent to settle at 31,082.32 points on the back of price depreciation in the shares of Nigerian Breweries, Nestle and Dangote Cement.
Consequently, market capitalisation fell by N16 billion to settle at N11.591 trillion while Year-to-Date (YtD) return weakened to -1.1 per cent. However, activity level improved as volume and value traded rose by 39.5 and 60.7 per cent to 286.89 million units and N3.09 billion respectively, exchanged in 3,924 deals.
On the outlook for the market this week, Analysts at Afrinvest had said “Consequent on the losses recorded on four trading sessions last week, we expect to see some bargain hunting in early trades this week, supported by positive earnings release on some counters. Nonetheless, given the paucity of foreign portfolio participation in the local bourse, we anticipate that the lingering bearish sentiments would drive a negative close”.
At the sound of the closing gong on Tuesday, Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) strengthened as 18 stocks declined while 17 others advanced.
Presco topped the losers’ chart with 9.33 per cent to close at N68 per share. Glaxosmithkline was next with 9.09 per cent to close at N10.50, Ikeja Hotel fell by 9.09 per cent to close at N1.70, Sovereign Insurance lost 8.70 per cent to close at 0.21 kobo while Nigerian Breweries decreased by 6.67 per cent to close at N70.
On the otherhand, MCNICHOLS topped the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at 0.66 kobo per share. First Aluminium followed with 7.14 per cent to close at 0.30 kobo, FCMB rose by 6.67 per cent to close at N1.92, Trans Express notched up 6.15 per cent to close at 0.69 kobo while NPF Microfinance Bank increased by 5.30 per cent to close at N1.59.
Access Bank maintained top spot in driving the volume of shares with the sale of 84.67 million shares worth N500.04 million. UBA transacted 40.90 million shares valued at N307.88 million while Zenith Bank traded 22.15 million shares worth N482.91 million
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