By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Bearish trading has persisted in the equities market as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) all-share index (ASI) dipped further to 0.20 percent from 0.29 percent recorded the previous session to close at 32,380.26  basis points, while market capitalisation declined by N21.80 billion to close at N11.05 trillion.

This is the smallest single-day loss since the present bearish trend which saw current Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) returns on the Nigerian bourse stand at a negative 6.57 percent, according to Cordros daily market update.

The Cordros report say the Insurance index was the sole gainer with a 0.48 percent increase, while the Consumer Goods index topped the losers with 1.41 percent slide. “The Banking and Oil/Gas indices also depreciated by 0.72 percent and 0.25 percent respectively, while the Industrial Goods index dropped marginally by 0.10 percent,” the report added.

At the close of business on the Nigeria’s Exchange, market breadth maintained a negative outlook with 18 gainers and 25 losers recorded.

For the second straight day drugmaker,  Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc emerged top gainer with a gain of 0.13 kobo per share compared to 0.12 kobo per share recorded the past session.

While, Africa’s global lender, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) topped the losers chart with a loss of 0.28 kobo per share to close the day.

In terms of turnover, volume traded on the Nigerian equities market climbed up by 39.31% to 217.13 million shares, valued at N2.99 billion and traded in 3,737 deals.

“Likely demand in key defensive stocks is expected to tapper losses in the broader market performance,” the Cordros update affirmed.