By InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian equities market on Wednesday sustained its bearish run as the all-share index (ASI) dropped 0.34 percent to close at 25,657.48 points, while market capitalisation declined by N30.15 billion to N8.83 trillion; following profit-taking in key Banking and Oil & Gas counters.
“Today’s activities further reduced the Month-to-Date gain to 4.42 percent and increased the Year-to-Date loss to 10.42 percent,” Cordros daily market update affirmed.
According to the update, the Banking sector closed lower by 1.94 percent on the back of sell-offs in the shares of Nigeria’s top tier lender, Zenith Bank Plc and financial Holdco, FBN Holdings Plc both depreciating 3.74 percent and 1.61 percent apiece.
In the same vein, the Oil & Gas index dropped by 0.77 percent owing to a loss in the shares of oil marketing firm, Oando Plc by 9.54 percent.
On the flipside, gains recorded in the shares of beer producer, Nigerian Breweries Plc and insurer, NEM Insurance Plc by 3.28 percent and 2.67 percent respectively; boosted the Consumer Goods and Insurance sectors by 0.64 percent and 0.11 percent accordingly.
Cordros reports that the Industrial Goods index however closed flat as the shares of cement manufacturer, Dangote Cement Plc was unchanged at N164.00 per share.
At the close of today’s trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), market breadth sustained a negative outlook, with nine (9) gainers compared to 24 losers.
Sugar refiner, Dangote Sugar Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of 0.30 kobo per share; while Oando Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of 0.46 kobo per share to close the day.
In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian bourse surged by 1417.39 percent to 4.36 billion shares valued at N4.69 billion and traded in 4,125 deals, according to the Cordros daily market update.
“With todays market breadth significantly negative — indicating weak investors’ appetite — losses will most likely continue in tomorrow’s session,” Cordros added.
