Major losses recorded by companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday further dragged down market indicators at the close of trading.
This was compounded by huge sell-offs which continued to depress indices as they fell marginally.
Fidson Plc lost the highest, falling by 9.7 per cent or 13 kobo per share to close at N1.21 per share.
Red Star Express Plc lost 8.7 per cent or 28 kobo to close at N2.92 per share.
Oando Plc fell by 4.9 per cent or 64 kobo to close at N12.21 per share. The stock has so far fallen to a nine-year low as a result of its share offer.
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc also lost 4.8 per cent or 25 kobo to close at N7.90 and N4.90 per share respectively.
Custodian Insurance Plc, Aiico Insurance Plc, Learn Africa Plc and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc also shed 4.7 per cent each.
Thus, the market capitalisation of the listed equities, which stood at N8.207tn on Wednesday, fell by 0.3 per cent or N21bn to N8.186tn on Thursday.
The NSE’s All-Share Index, which had closed at 25,774.26 points the previous day, lost 0.3 per cent or 63.98 basis points to 25,710.55 points.
The NSE-30 Index also slipped by 0.1 per cent or 0.77 basis points from 1,207.77 points to 1207.00 basis points, while the NSE Banking Index gained 0.3 per cent from 395.64 points to 396.90 points.
The banking sub-sector maintained its lead on the activity chart, accounting for 53 per cent of total turnover traded.
In the sub-sector, investors exchanged 175.188 million shares, worth N2.1bn in 2,139 transactions.
Turnover in the sub-sector was driven by activities in the shares of Zenith Bank Plc which alone accounted for 50 per cent of total volume in the sub-sector.
Other banking stocks that drove volume in the sub-sector included First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc.
Unilever Nigeria Plc recorded the highest appreciation for the day, rising by five per cent or N1.91 to close at N40.11 per share.
Livestock Plc and Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc gained 4.7 per cent each to close at N1.54 and N1.10 per share, respectively.
Source: Punch/Udeme Ekwere
