Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Friday’s trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed bearish as it had been almost throughout the week, Business Post is reporting.
It was observed that the positive 2017 earnings of GTBank, Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC and others were not enough to positively affect the market as negative sentiments persisted in the week.
At the close of business on Friday, the market finished 0.59 percent lower with the Year-to-Date (YtD) shrinking to 9.66 percent.
In addition, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 249.45 points to settle at 41,935.93 points, while the market capitalisation depreciated by N89.3 billion to close at N15.002 trillion.
However, it was observed that despite the market closing weak, the volume and value of equities traded by investors fairly appreciated.
A total of 426.7 million shares were exchanged on Friday in 5,191 deals worth N7.1 billion compared with 404.7 million equities worth N6 billion sold on Thursday in 5,403 deals.
By the time trading activities stopped, the Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 369.2 million shares sold for N5.7 billion, while the Consumer Goods sector followed with 30.3 million equities exchanged for 474 million.
A further breakdown of these trades showed that Zenith Bank was the most traded after selling 87.4 million units worth N2.5 billion.
It was followed by Fidelity Bank, which traded 46.4 million shares valued at N111.8 million, and FBN Holdings, which transacted 42.8 million equities for N494.7 million.
Access Bank exchanged 37.2 million shares for N430.5 million, while GTBank traded 32 million equities valued at N1.4 billion.
On the price movement chart, Dangote Cement emerged the highest price gainer, appreciating by N1.40k to close at N264 per share.
Flour Mills rose by 65k to finish at N38 per share, while Guinness Nigeria advanced by 40k to end at N100.20k per share.
FBN Holdings increased by 30k to close at N11.70k per share, while Unilever improved by 25k to finish at N53.15k per share.
At the other end, Nestle Nigeria suffered the heaviest loss after depreciating by N15 to settle at N1380 per share.
It was trailed by Seplat, which crashed by N7.50k to finish at N760 per share, and Presco, which went down by N1.85k to close at N72.50k per share.
Zenith Bank shed N1.15k to close at N27.60k per share, while Dangote Sugar reduced by N1.10k to end at N20.90k per share.
