Equity Market Extends Downturn By N75bn

Transactions in the Nigerian equity market on Tuesday closed negative for the second consecutive trading day, following sell-off on some high-valued stocks.

The All-Share Index dipped by 143.91 basis points or 0.057 per cent to close at 24,883.70 bps as against 25,027.61 recorded the previous trading session.

The market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N75bn from N13.05tn the previous day to N12.98tn as market sentiment remained on the negative territory.

Meanwhile, a turnover of 206.61 million shares traded in 3,925 deals was recorded in the day’s trading.

The banking sub-sector was the most active (measured by turnover volume); with 74.29 million shares traded by investors in 761 deals.

Volume in the sub-sector was largely driven by activities in the shares of GTBank Plc and Fidelity Plc.

Also, the premium sub-sector was boosted by the activities in the shares of Access Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc followed with a turnover of 62.03m shares in 1,233 deals.

Further analysis of the day’s trading showed that in percentage terms, Cadbury Nigeria Plc topped the day’s gainers’ table with 6.82 per cent to close at N7.05 per share while Nigerian Breweries Plc followed with 6.25 per cent to close at N34.00 per share.

Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc added 5.00 per cent to close at 21 kobo per share.

On the flip side, Prestige Assurance Plc led the losers’ with a drop of 10 per cent to close at 45 kobo per share while Ikeja Hotel Plc shed 9.82 per cent to close at N1.01 per share.

CHI Plc followed with a loss of 9.76 per cent to close at 37 kobo per share.