By InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The bears on Monday dominated activities on the Nigerian bourse, with the all-share index (ASI) depreciating by 0.27 percent to close at 27,220.09 points.
“Today’s performance increased the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses to 3.94 percent and 5.13 percent respectively,” Cordros daily market update affirmed.
At the close of the session on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Industrial Goods index shed weight by 1.86 percent, as investors liquidated their positions in shares of cement manufacturer, Lafarge Cement Wapco Plc which lost by 5.00 percent with a disappointing nine months 2016 earnings.
The Banking index also dipped by 0.94 percent to close lower, owing to selloffs in the shares of top tier lenders, Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc and financial HoldCo, FBN Holdings Plc the trio declining by 1.34 percent, 0.88 percent and 0.99 percent apiece.
On the positive side, gains recorded by insurers AIICO Insurance Plc and Custodian and Allied Plc by 8.62 percent and 4.58 percent each; coupled with price appreciation in the shares of reinsurer, Continental Reinsurance Plc by 7.92 percent buoyed the Insurance index to 1.07 percent higher. . While beer maker, Nigerian Breweries Plc and food and beverage manufacturer, Nestle Nigeria Plc both gained by 0.09 percent and 0.51 percent each to boost the Consumer Goods index by 0.10 percent.
The Oil & Gas index appreciated by 0.45 percent, following price increases in the shares of MRS Oil Nigeria Plc and Total Nigeria Plc by 8.38 percent and 4.55 percent respectively.
Market breadth at the close of trading on the Nigerian bourse was negative with 16 gainers and 29 losers posted, according to data from the NSE. Book publishing firm, LearnAfrica Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of 0.06 kobo per share; while Nigeria’s top tier conglomerate, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc topped the losers list with a loss of 0.09 kobo per share.
In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market surged 48.13 percent to N219.90 million shares, valued at N1.88 billion, and traded in 3,955 deals.
“We expect investor appetite to remain weak in tomorrow’s session,” the Cordros update affirmed.
