By Yakubu LAAH Y Investadvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Stocks on the Nigerian bourse Thursday slipped back into the red zone as all-share index (ASI) declined 0.34 percent on sell pressure to close at 25,369.52 points, while market capitalisation dipped by N29.68 billion to N8.73 trillion.
“Activities in today’s session cut the ASI’s Month-to-Date gain to 0.25 percent and increased the Year-to-Date loss to 11.43 percent,” Cordros daily market update affirmed.
According to the report, the Consumer and Industrial Goods sectors went down 0.20 percent and 0.68 percent apiece, due to losses recorded in the shares of food and beverage producer, Nestle Nigeria Plc and cement manufacturer, Dangote Cement Plc by 2.17 percent and 1.17 percent respectively.
In the same vein, the Oil & Gas index depreciated by 0.15 percent, owing to a decline in the shares of oil marketer, Oando Plc by 4.91 percent.
On the positive side, the Banking and Insurance indices appreciated 0.65 percent and 1.12 percent respectively on positive investor interest in the shares of Nigeria’s top tier lender, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc by 1.00 percent and reinsurer, Continental Reinsurance Plc by 1.12 percent apiece.
At the close of today’s session on the Nigerian bourse, market breadth turned positive, with 20 gainers and 16 losers posted, according to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) daily market statistics. Conglomerate in several industries, AG Leventis Nigeria Plc topped the gainers chart with a gain of 0.04 kobo per share; while drugmaker, May & Baker Nigeria Plc emerged the top loser with a loss of 0.05 kobo per share.
In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market added 30.40 percent to 264.70 million shares worth N1.31 million and traded in 3,033 deals.
“We expect the bulls to resurface in tomorrow’s session, as today’s market breadth is indicative of the presence of positive sentiments,” the Cordros update affirmed.
