By InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)- The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday remained pressured with heavy selloffs in consumer goods stocks, dragging the all-share index (ASI) lower by 0.55 percent to close at 25,446.66 points.

“Today’s performance increased the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses to 2.26 percent and 5.31 percent respectively, according to Cordros daily market update

The update says at the close of the trading session on the Nigerian equities market, the Consumer Goods index declined 2.54 percent to take the biggest hit, driven by price declines in the shares of food and beverage producer, Nestle Nigeria Plc, soap and detergent maker, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc and Nigeria’s topmost brewer, Nigerian Breweries Plc all lost by 5.00 percent, 4.97 percent and 1.95 percent each.

Also, losses recorded in the shares of Nigeria’s tier one lender, Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, oil marketing majors, Forte Oil Plc and Oando Plc by 2.15 percent, 4.86 percent, 6.47 percent and 1.68 percent apiece equally weighed on the Banking and Oil & Gas indices by 0.32 percent and 0.59 percent losses each.

On the positive side, the Industrial Goods and Insurance indices gained by 0.42 percent and 0.75 percent and advanced, bolstered by buying interest in the shares of cement producer and Nigeria’s most capitalised listed company, Dangote Cement Plc and insurer, Axa Mansard Insurance Plc with both companies gaining 0.60 percent and 4.83 percent respectively.

At the close of the trading session on the domestic bourse, market breadth remained negative, with 14 gainers and 22 losers recorded, according to data from the NSE. Nigerian glass maker, Beta Glass Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of N1.50; while forte Oil topped the losers table with a loss N3.93.

In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market rose by 35.95 percent to 207.18 million shares, valued at N1.58 billion and traded in 2,791 deals.

“We expect decline to persist,” the Cordros update affirmed.