Nigerian Equities Shed Weight by N41bn

Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange has continued to witnessed another decline in share prices as bears sustained their grip for the fourth trading session following profit taking by investors.
The local bourse recorded 10 gainers against 21 losers to sustain downward trend.
Consequently, the All-Share Index dipped 79.97 basis points or 0.27 per cent to close at 29,030.93 index points as against 29.110.90 recorded the previous trading session while market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N41 billion from N14.994 trillion the previous day to N14.953 trillion as market sentiment remained on the negative territory.
Meanwhile, a turnover of 27.5 million shares exchanged in 4,411 deals was recorded in the day’s trading.
The premium sub-sector was the most active (measured by turnover volume); with 107.3 million shares exchanged by investors in 1,796 deals.
Volume in the sub-sector was largely driven by activities in the shares of UBA Plc and Zenith Bank Plc.
Also, the banking sub-sector boosted by activities in the shares of Fidelity Bank Plc and GTBank Plc followed with a turnover of 84.3 million shares in 669 deals.
Further analysis of the day’s trading showed that in percentage terms, Cornerstone Insurance Plc topped the day’s gainers’ table with 9.26 per cent to close at 59 kobo per share while NEM Insurance Plc followed with 9.09 per cent to close at N2.40 per share. CHI Plc added 8.33 per cent to close at 39 kobo per share. On the flip side, UACN Plc led the losers with a drop of 10 per cent to close at N9.00 per share while Union Dicon Plc shed 9.09 per cent to close at 20 kobo per share. Transcorp Plc trailed with 8.82 per cent to close at 93 kobo per share.