Bearish Trend: NGX Trading Dips as Investors Lose N68bn 

Investors lost N68bn on Wednesday as the equity market continued with its bearish trading.

The All Share Index and the Market Capitalisation declined by 0.12 per cent each to settle at 100,365.17 points and N56.83tn, respectively.

This brings the year-to-date return to 34.29 per cent, the month-to-date to 0.31 per cent, and the week-to-date to -0.17 per cent, respectively.

An aggregate of 497,842,944 units of shares was traded in 8,412 deals valued at N8.61bn. The market breadth closed negative as 17 equities gained while 21 equities declined in share prices.

The daily average volume increased by 43.57 per cent to 497.84 million units, while the total number of deals for the day advanced by 0.11 per cent to 8,412. The traded value increased by 137.35 per cent to N8.61bn.

The shares of FCMB Group emerged as the most traded securities by volume with 133.92 million units worth N1.04bn in a total of 160 deals while Zenith Bank was the most traded stocks by value at N2.19bn exchanged in 762 trades.

At the end of trading, the top gainers included International Breweries (10 per cent), Sovereign Trust Insurance (10 per cent) and Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc (9.80 per cent)

On the other hand, the top three decliners were Secure Electronic Technology (-9.43 per cent), RT Briscoe (-8.22 per cent) and United Bank for Africa (-5.07 per cent).

Performance across sectors was mixed as two indices gained and two lost while the oil and gas and ICT indices closed unchanged. The banking and consumer goods dipped. The insurance and industrial goods indices gained.

Investors anticipated an extended bearish trend in the market this week.

On Tuesday, transactions on the floor of the Stock Exchange closed on a negative note. The All Share Index declined by 0.08 per cent, settling at 100,486.12 points from the previous close of 100,568.60 points.