By Dipo Olowookere
The value of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) further depreciated on Wednesday as investors continue to patiently await any positive news that will stimulate buying pressure.
Business Post reports that the market declined during the midweek trading session by 0.45 percent to extend the year-to-date loss to 7.84 percent.
A more alarming situation occurred at the market yesterday as All-Share Index (ASI) fell below the 29,000 psychological mark for the first time in two years. The ASI, which is the major barometer for measuring the market’s performance, went down by 130 points to settle at 28,966.41 points against 29,096.41 of the previous session.
Business Post reports that the last time the index closed below 29,000 points was on May 25, 2017, when it ended at 28,467.61 points.
For the market capitalisation, it decreased yesterday by N49 billion to close at N10.887 trillion as against N10.936 trillion of the previous session.
Unlike the previous day, the market activity was mixed as the volume of shares traded by investors decreased by 24.51 percent to 324.8 million from 430.3 million, while the value rose by 14.37 percent to N3.2 billion from N2.8 billion.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) led the activity chart during the day, accounting for 59.7 million units sold for N409 million.
Access Bank followed with 46.4 million units of its shares traded for N327.4 million, while Sterling Bank exchanged 40.3 million equities worth N103.7 million.
Zenith Bank transacted 32.2 million valued at N661.7 million, while Courtville traded 16.4 million shares worth N4.1 million.
A look at the price movement chart indicated that Dangote Cement claimed the top spot, losing N2 to close at N179 per share.
Mobil Oil Nigeria also depreciated by N2 to finish at N173 per share, while GTBank lost 70 kobo to settle at N32.30k per unit.
Nigerian Breweries decreased by 50 kobo to end at N65.50k per unit, while Access Bank depreciated by 15 kobo to end at N7 per share.
On the other hand, Beta Glass maintained its top spot on the gainers’ log, gaining N6.25k to close at N68.95k per share.
Dangote Flour rose by 80 kobo to settle at N16.80k per share, while Cadbury Nigeria appreciated by 30 kobo to end at N11 per unit.
Dangote Sugar increased its share value by 25 kobo to finish at N14 per unit, while Eterna appreciated by 20 kobo to end at N4.10k each.
An analysis of the sector performance showed that only the consumer goods sector finished strong on Wednesday as the index rose by 0.12 percent.
The banking index went down by 0.77 percent, the insurance index dropped 0.42 percent, while the industrial index depreciated by 0.16 percent.
Adedapo Adesanya