By InvestAdvocate

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Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The domestic bourse on Wednesday closed in the red, as the all-share index (ASI) declined 0.17 percent to 25,514.09 points.

“Today’s negative performance trimmed the Month-to-Date gain to 0.73 percent, while it increased the Year-to-Date loss to 5.06 percent,” according to Cordros daily market update.

The update says at the close of the trading session, the Banking and Insurance indices shed weight by 0.20 percent and 0.16 percent apiece, following selloffs in the shares of top tier lender, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and insurer, AIICO Insurance Plc; both lost by 1.08 percent and 3.51 percent respectively.

Likewise, the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices declined 0.61 percent and 0.29 percent each, on the back of investors liquidating their holdings in the shares of food and beverage maker, Nestle Nigeria Plc, soap and detergent producer, Unilever Nigeria Plc; both depreciated by 1.33 percent and 5.00 percent each.

While, oil marketing majors, Mobil Nigeria Plc and Forte Oil Plc dipped by 0.33 percent and 0.26 percent respectively.

On the positive side, the Industrial Goods index gained 1.96 percent to buck the trend, following a rally in the shares of cement manufacturer, Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria Plc which appreciated by 5.00 percent, despite posting a pre-tax loss of N22.82 billion in 2016 financial year end. “We suspect that today’s gain in WAPCO might have been on the back of the tax credit-driven PAT (N16.9 billion vs. -N37.4 billion in 9M-16) the company reported and the consequent declaration of a final dividend of 105kobo/share,” the Cordros update said.

At the close of business on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), market breadth remained negative, with 15 gainers versus 22 losers, according to data from the NSE. WAPCO emerged the topmost gainer with a gain of N1.80 per share; while Eterna Plc became the topmost loser with a loss of 0.16 kobo per share.

In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market fell by 29.35 percent to 198.84 million shares, valued at N2.53 billion, and exchanged in 2,306 deals.

“We expect losses to reverse in tomorrow’s session,” the Cordros report added.