By Abdulquddus OKELE InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) all-share-index (ASI) on Thursday plunged below the 40,000-mark, as it dropped, for the sixth consecutive session, by 1.06 percent to record the highest loss in the month so far – to 39,723.85 points, amidst dampened investor sentiments across major sectors.
Cordros reports that the Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) gain dropped to 3.87 percent, while the Month-to-Date (M-t-D) loss increased to 3.74 percent.
The report says at the close of the the day’s session on the Nigerian bourse, all sectoral indices closed in the red, with the Consumer Goods down by -1.79 percent to post the largest loss, the Banking (-1.70 percent), Insurance (-1.10 percent), Industrial Goods (-0.20 percent), and Oil & Gas (-0.01 percent) indices followed suit.
Selloffs in the shares of beer producer, Nigerian Breweries Plc (NB PlC) down by -4.99 percent, lender Diamond Bank Plc -8.28 percent, insurer, AIICO Insurance Plc -4.84 percent, cement manufacturer Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc (CCNN) 4.76 percent, and Eterna Plc down by 4.66 percent, caused the losses in the respective sectoral indices.
According to the Cordros report, at the close of trading, market breadth worsened, with 35 losers and 8 gainers, led by DIAMONDBNK -8.28 percent and oil marketing firm MRS Oil Nigeria Plc led the top gainers by +10.10 percent respectively.
Total volume of trades dropped by 3.85 percen to 256.43 million units, valued at N2.00 billion down -57.15 percent and exchanged in 4,111 deals.
“The significant loss in today’s session suggests a need for cautious trading by investors in the meantime. That said, we believe long term fundamentals still support patient investment in equities,” the Cordros update affirmed.