Stock Market Sheds N24.5bn As 32 Firms Record Losses

The Nigerian stock market lost N24.49bn last week as 32 firms saw their share prices decline at the end of trading.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index dipped by 0.12 per cent to close at 37,947.18 basis points on Friday from 37,994.19 the previous week.

A total of 1.01 billion shares valued at N10.92bn were exchanged in 17,297 deals by investors on the floor of the NGX, in contrast to a total of 1.35 billion shares worth N12.14bn traded in 21,581 deals the previous week.

Trading in the top three equities, namely Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Zenith Bank Plc, measured by volume, accounted for 261.74 million shares worth N5.81bn in 3,498 deals.

They contributed 25.95 per cent and 53.22 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

All other indices finished lower except the NGX Banking, NGX AFR Div Yield, NGX MERI Growth, NGX Oil/Gas and NGX Sovereign Bond indices, which appreciated by 0.09 per cent, 0.32 per cent, 0.15 per cent, 1.81 per cent and 0.64 per cent respectively, while the NGX Premium, NGX ASeM and NGX Growth indices closed flat.

Twenty-nine equities appreciated during the week, lower than 44 in the previous week.

Thirty-two companies saw losses in their share prices higher than 22 in the previous week, while 95 remained unchanged as against 90 in the previous week.

FTN Cocoa Processors Plc led the gainers’ chart with a 20.59 per cent increase in its stock price to N0.41.

NCR (Nigeria) Plc followed closely with a 20.48 per cent gain to close at N3.00 per share. The other top gainers were Capital Hotel Plc (10.00 per cent), Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc (10.00 per cent), and Tripple Gee and Company Plc (9.89 per cent).

Ikeja Hotel Plc recorded the biggest loss as its share price dropped by 18.83 per cent to close at N1.25 per share.