Dipo Olowookere
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) finished lower on Thursday to reverse gains recorded on Wednesday, when the market rose by 1.04 percent after three consecutive bearish sessions. This was mainly caused by the last minute loss recorded by Dangote Cement.
At the close of activities yesterday, the Nigerian stock market depreciated by 0.05 percent to reduce the year-to-date return to 30.94 percent.
Business Post reports that the trading volume and value, which had been low for some days now, picked up on Thursday, with investors exchanging 429.2 million shares in 3,271 deals worth N8.7 billion, compared with 137.4 million shares traded on Wednesday in 2,977 deals valued at N1.1 billion.
It was observed that despite the loss recorded yesterday on the floor of the NSE, the market breadth closed positive for the first time in days, with 25 stocks appreciating in price against 20 equities that declined.
Banking stocks attracted interests from investors with GTBank emerging the most traded equity, exchanging 171.8 million units at N6.7 billion.
It was followed by Access Bank, which traded 39.8 million shares worth N386 million, and Jaiz Bank, which transacted 39.2 million shares valued at N26.6 million.
In addition, FCMB exchanged 29.4 million shares at N29.4 million, while Zenith Bank traded 25.5 million shares worth N561.5 million.
A look at the market indicators showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) lost 18.92 points to close at 35,188.97 points, while the market capitalisation depreciated by N6.5 billion to settle at N12 trillion.
On the price movement chart, Total Plc led the losers’ table after declining by N6 to settle at N225 per share.
It was trailed by Dangote Cement, which fell by N3.39k to close at N210 per share, and Okomu Oil, which slumped by N3.29k to finish at N63.21k per share.
Flour Mills of Nigeria declined by 45k to close at N26.55k per share, while Custodian and Allied went down by 14k to end at N3.46k per share.
On the flip side, Nigerian Breweries increased by N5 to close at N173 per share, while Guinness Nigeria went up by N2.48k to finish at N99.28k per share.
Lafarge progressed by 38k to end at N49.48k per share, GTBank grew by 25k to settle at N38.95k per share, and FBN Holdings added 22k to its share value to wrap the day at N5.37k per share.
