By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Bears on Wednesday returned to the Nigerian equities market after a one-day respite as all-share index ASI) dipped 0.23 percent on massive sell-offs to close at 30,042.38 basis points, while market capitalisation declined by N24.07 billion to N10.30 trillion.
The declined led to current Month-to-Date (M-t-D) and Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) returns on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to a negative 0.46 percent and 13.32 percent respectively, according to Cordros daily market update.
According to Cordros, price appreciation in the shares of cement producer, Dangote Cement Plc (DANGCEM) led to a 0.47 percent rise in the Industrial Goods index, the sole gainer amongst the five (5) NSE sector indices for the second consecutive session.
“The Banking index had the worst performance with a 1.53 percent decline, the Insurance index followed with a 1.39 percent drop, while the Oil/Gas index lost 1.17 percent,” the Cordros report affirmed. Similarly, the Consumer Goods index also depreciated 0.20 percent.
At the close of trading on the Nigerian bourse, market breadth worsened recording six (6) gainers and 38 losers, according to the NSE daily market statistics.
Paint manufacturer, Paint Company of Nigeria Plc emerged top gainer with a gain of 0.04 kobo per share; while Conglomerate, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) topped the losers table with a loss of 0.24 kobo per share.
In terms of turnover, volume traded on the Nigerian equities market declined by 2.69 percent to 299.7 million shares, valued at N2.55 billion and traded in 3,556 deals.
“We maintain a negative outlook as a positive catalyst remains unseen,” the Cordros update affirmed.
