Equity sustains bearish tempo, loses N18bn

By Kayode Ogunwale

The equities segment of the Nigerian stock market sustained bearish tempo as investor’s outlook remains bleak with N18 billion drop in market capitalisation.
The bourse shed 0.21 per cent to bring the year till date to -10.62 per cent. The index and market capitalization closed lower at 25,599.79 basis points and N8.813 trillion respectively.
The NSE All Share Index and all sector indices closed in red region save for NSE Banking Index, NSE Insurance Index which trended up with 0.19 per cent and 0.47 per cent gain respectively while NSE Alternate Securities Market (NSE Asem) remained flat. The general market outlook remains negative on active sell pressure.
Volume of trades decreased from 189 million shares traded in the previous session to 145 million shares traded today, while value recorded N1.18 billion as against N1.35 billion, representing a 12.23 per cent incline from the previous trading level.
Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Staco Assurance Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc, Diamond Bank and Wema Bank were the toasts of investor as they topped the activity chart as most traded equities by volume.
The market breadth remains negative with 24 decliners against 14 advancers.
Total Nigeria Plc led the losers chart with N13.97 kobo to close at N267.03 kobo per share, followed by Forte Oil Plc with N4.35 kobo loss to close at N82.67 kobo, CAP Plc with N1.68 kobo, GlaxoSmithKline Plc with N0.71 kobo and Cadbury Nigeria Plc with N0.52 kobo loss per share to close the day at N10.05 kobo.
On the gainers chart, NASCON Plc top with N0.37 kobo to close at N7.88 kobo from N7.51 kobo it open the day’s trading. It was followed by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc with N0.29 kobo to close at N10.00 kobo and Nigerian Breweries Plc with a gain of N0.16 kobo to close at N141.19 kobo from N141.03 kobo per share.
However, the local currency remains flat relative to global trading currencies today in the inter-bank. The spot rate closed at N305.50/USD.