By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Monday commenced the week on a negative note as blue chip stocks such as Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and brewer, Nigerian Breweries Plc recorded losses.

At the close of business, all share index (ASI) dipped 0.22 percent to close at 33,590.48 points, while market capitalisation dropped  N25.41 billion to close at N11.47 trillion.

With this loss, current market Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) returns on the Nigerian bourse stands at a negative 3.08 percent.

Cordros market update reported that two (2) of the five (5) NSE Sectoral indices appreciated, with the Industrial Goods and Insurance indices rising by 0.15 percent and 0.88 percent respectively. “The Oil/Gas index topped the losers’ with 0.99 percent decline, while the Consumer Goods and Banking indices shed 0.50 percent and 0.27 percent accordingly,” the report added.

At the end of the day’s session, market breadth on the NSE posted a negative outlook; recording 15 gainers and 26 losers.  Soap and detergent maker, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc emerged top gainer with gain of N1.46 per share; while The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO) led the losers chart with a loss of 0.30 kobo per share.

In terms of turnover, volume traded on the Nigerian equities market increased by 70.09 percent to 337.48 million shares, valued at N2.83 billion and traded in 3,481 deals.

“We expect decline in tomorrow’s session, as investors await key market catalysts,” Cordros report affirmed.