The bears sustained hold on the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), following weak investor sentiments in the shares of many blue-chip companies, especially Nigerian Breweries (NB) and Stanbic IBTC, causing the market capitalisation to slip further by N62 billion.
The All Share Index (ASI) decreased by 113.48 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.24 per cent to close at 47,322.97 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation lost N61 billion to close at N25.776 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are: Nigerian Breweries, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) and Zenith Bank.
Market breadth closed slightly negative, with 13 gainers versus 14 losers. Chams recorded the highest price gain of 9.09 per cent to close at 24 kobo, per share. Wapic Insurance followed with a gain of 6.06 per cent to close at 35 kobo, while NPF Microfinance Bank rose 5.33 per cent to close at N1.58, per share.
Jaiz Bank went up by 3.66 per cent to close at 85 kobo, while FCMB Group appreciated by 3.08 per cent to close at N3.35, per share. NGXGroup gained 2.13 per cent to close at N24 while FBN Holdings gained 1.82 per cent to close at N11.20 kobo. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company appreciated by 1.74 per cent to close at N5.85 kobo.
UACN appreciated by 53 per cent to close at N9.55 kobo. Fidelity Bank also gained 49 per cent to close at N4.12 kobo. Analysts at Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “Profit taking action continued today, as gainers remain outnumbered, and we expect a similar trading session tomorrow. “
On the other hand, Neimeth Pharmaceutical led others on the losers’ chart, shedding 7.97 per cent to close at N1.27 kobo while NB followed with 7.66 per cent to close at N45.20 kobo. Caverton shed 5.68 kobo to close at 83 kobo. ETI depreciated by 5.16 per cent to close at N10.10 kobo.
Union Bank of Nigeria dropped 4.58 per cent to close at N6.25 kobo. Stanbic IBTC lost 4.23 per cent to close at N30.55 kobo while AIICO shed 1.82 per cent to close at 54 kobo. Royal Exchange depreciated by 1.41 per cent to close at 70 kobo. Zenith Bank also shed 1.36 per cent to close at N21.70 kobo.
The total volume traded decreased by 56.69 per cent to 120.947 million units, valued at N1.648 billion, and exchanged in 3,022 deals. Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) topped the activity chart with 34.590 million shares valued at N40.478 million.
Access Holdings followed with 11.170 million shares worth N94.915 billion, while Zenith Bank traded 9.331 million shares valued at N202.528 million.
FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 8.732 million shares valued at N96.616 million, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) transacted 8.492 million shares worth N169.380 million.
