Stock Market Index Loses N1bn As Blue-chip Stocks Decline

Following price losses suffered by some blue-chip companies, transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) declined marginally yesterday with the all-share index (ASI) depreciating marginally by 0.007 percent. It closed at 28,344.04 as against the 28,344.33 it opened with. The market capitalization also fell by N1 billion.

Reacting to market performance, analysts at Vetiva Capital said: “With most counters still witnessing some corrections, the domestic market again closed the day flat while the year to date (YTD). The performance remained positive at +5.60 percent.

“However, with the bearish sectorial performances recorded, in conjunction with the negative market breadth, we expect the market to close south tomorrow (though a marginal decline is expected).”

Market sentiment, as measured by the market breadth was positive as 13 stocks posted gains while 12 constituted the losers’ chart.

Eterna PLC emerged the highest price gainer, adding 9.98 percent to close at N5.29 per share. Lafarge Africa followed with a gain of 4.03 percent to close at N18.05. Guinness Nigeria PLC rose by 3.23 percent to N16.00 per share.

International Breweries PLC went up by 3.19 percent to close at N4.85 while PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC appreciated by 2.38 percent to close at N4.30 per share.

On the other hand, Aiico Insurance PLC led the losers’ chart by 3.57 percent, to close at 81 kobo per share. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria PLC followed with a decline of 3.45 percent to close at N5.60 while Fidson Healthcare shed three percent to close at N3.56 per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded went up by 56.66 percent to 342.193 million shares. Transactions in the shares of United Bank for Africa topped the activity chart with 92.871 million shares valued at N613.56 million. Zenith Bank followed with 67.233 million shares worth N1.349 billion while Guaranty Trust Bank traded 62.191 million shares valued at N1.840 billion.