By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigerian equities on Thursday plunged 0.16 percent as all-share index (ASI) closed at 31,216.72 basis points, while market capitalisation shed N18.21 billion to close at N10.69 trillion.

Cordros market update says the development is as a result of sell-offs across various sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) which led current market Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) returns to a negative 9.93 percent.

“The Banking index was the only gainer with a 0.26 percent appreciation,” the Cordros update affirmed.

According to the report, on the contrary, the Oil/Gas index recorded the highest loss with 0.28 percent, while the Industrial and Consumer Goods indices followed with 0.25 percent and 0.21 percent depreciations respectively. Similarly, the Insurance index also dipped by 0.14 percent.

At the close of today’s session on the Nigerian bourse, market breadth remained on the negative, recording 18 gainers and 28 losers. Paint manufacturer, Berger Paints Nigeria Plc emerged top gainer with a gain of 0.95 kobo per share; while Fast Consumer Moving Goods (FCMG) firm Northern Nigeria Flour Mills Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of 0.90 kobo per share.

In terms of turnover, volume traded on the Nigerian equities market dipped by 36.68 percent to 208.50 million shares, valued at N3.24 billion and traded in 3,727 deals.

“We maintain status-quo from the previous session amid uncertainties surrounding the outlook of the MPC meeting,” the Cordros report affirmed.