By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday commenced the week with biggest single-day loss following Monday August 17, 2015’s 2.59 percent mark.

At the close of trading, all-share index (ASI) dipped 2.22 percent on sell-offs across sectors to close at 29,214.13 basis points, while market capitalisation declined by N227.66 billion to N10.01 trillion.

Cordros daily market update says with this development, current market Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) and Month-to-Date (M-t-D) returns stands at a negative 15.71 percent and 3.2 percent respectively.

According to the update, four (4) of the five (5) NSE sector indices recorded losses. “The Oil & Gas index had the best performance with a 0.53 percent gain,” the report said.

On the contrary, the report said the banking index recorded the biggest contraction (-3.22 percent) as investors continued to exit positions in banks. The Industrial index followed with a 1.85 percent plunge; while the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices dropped 1.62 percent and 1.17 percent respectively.

At the close of transaction on the Nigerian bourse, market breadth was weak, recording only nine (9) gainers and 46 losers.

Paint producer, Paint Company of Nigeria Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of 0.10 kobo per share; while soap and detergent maker PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of N2.90 kobo per share to close the day.

In terms of turnover, volume traded on the Nigerian equities market dipped by 25 percent to N258 million shares, valued at N2.78 billion (previously N4.95 billion) and traded in 4,247 deals.

“We expect decline to persist tomorrow, albeit at a moderate rate than today, the Cordros update affirmed.