By InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The bears on Tuesday sustained its hold on the equities market as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) all-share index (ASI) fell by 0.29 percent to close at 27,555.31 points.

“Today’s performance increased the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses to 2.75 percent and 3.92 percent respectively,” according to Cordros daily market update.

The report says losses were recorded in the Oil & Gas and Banking indices both declining by 1.00 percent and 0.94 percent apiece, following selloffs in the shares of Eterna Plc and Oando Plc both losing 1.01 percent and 0.78 percent each, while Nigeria’s top tier lenders Access Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc declined 1.43 percent and 0.64 percent respectively.

The Insurance and Consumer Goods indices also depreciated 0.34 percent and 0.11 percent each, owing to price declines in the shares of insurers, AIICO Insurance Plc and Wapic Insurance Plc both dropping 1.67 percent and 3.85 percent each. Brewer, Guinness Nigeria Plc and food and beverage producer, Nestle Nigeria Plc lost 3.86 percent and 0.69 percent apiece.

On the positive side, the Industrial Goods index gained 0.33 percent buoyed by the performance of cement manufacturer,  Lafarge Cement Wapco Plc which appreciated by 0.78 percent.

At the close of the session, market breadth maintained a negative outlook with 13 gainers and 27 losers recorded, according to data from the NSE. Oil marketing major, Total Nigeria Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of N14.47 per share; while Nigeria’s leading conglomerate in several industries, AG Leventis (Nigeria) Plc topped the losers list with a loss of 0.08 kobo per share.

In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market dipped by 39.74 percent to N154.16 million shares, valued at N1.62 billion, and exchanged in 2,510 deals.

“We expect sentiments to be guided by the gradual release of Q3-2016 corporate earnings in tomorrow’s session,” the Cordros update affirmed.