Total, Mobil, 27 Others Plunge Stock Market to N120b Loss

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Trading activities resumed on Monday on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), but the weak sentiments continued after the market closed bearish last Friday.

Heavy decline recorded by blue-chip stocks left investors counting losses at the close of transactions today, leaving the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) swinging further downward by 1.05 percent.

Business Post reports that a total of 29 equities depreciated today in contrast to 17 stocks which appreciated with the losers’ chart led by Total Plc, crashing by N14 to close at NN266 per share.

It was closely trailed by Mobil Plc, which went down by N12.49k to finish at N237.53k per share.

Also, 7up declined by N8.24k to end at N78.21k per share, Guinness lost N3.57k to close at N67.93k per share, while Presco also shed N3.57k to end at N67.93k per share.

On the flip side, PZ Cussons picked N1.43k to settle at N24.35k per share, while CAP Plc chalked up N1 to close at N33 per share.

Honeywell Flour Mill gained 17k to end at N1.93k per share, Cutix went up by 10k to close at N2.10k per share, and Newrest ASL Nigeria Plc (AIRSERVICE) increased by 6k to finish at N4.56k per share.

An analysis of the market indicators showed that the market capitalisation depleted by N120 billion to settle at N11.33 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) deflated by 347.68 points to finish at 32,769.80 points and the YTD Return cropped down to 21.94 percent.

In addition, the volume and value of shares traded at the market today finish lower with investors trading a total of 162.4 million units worth N1.5 billion executed in 3,488 deals compared with 345.9 million shares traded last Friday in 4,797 deals valued at N3.4 billion.

Business Post reports that Access Bank emerged the most active stock on Monday, accounting for 20.9 million units traded at N197.4 million.

Fidelity Bank claimed the second spot with 16 million shares transacted at N20.9 million, while UBA came third with 14.6 million units exchanged at N125.9 million.

Furthermore, Transcorp traded 11.6 million share valued at N16.3 million, while Zenith Bank sold 8.9 million units at N184.6 million.