Nigerian Stocks Close 0.06% Lower in First Session in June

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading session in the month of June 2021 on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed bearish as the market lost 0.06 per cent.

Selloffs in the key sectors of the exchange contributed to the decline recorded on Tuesday, June 1 and they outweighed the 1.51 per cent growth posted by the insurance sector.

Business Post reports that during the session, the energy counter lost 0.86 per cent, the consumer goods index dropped 0.27 per cent, banking depreciated by 0.13 per cent, while industrial goods space declined by 0.06 per cent.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 23.51 points to end at 38,414.37 points compared with Monday’s 38,437.88 points.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation went down by N12 billion to finish at N20.023 trillion in contrast to N20.035 trillion it closed at the preceding day.

Despite the market closing bearish, the level of activity improved as the volume of Nigerian stocks traded by investors increased by 36.16 per cent to 274.9 million units, the trading value rose by 24.17 per cent to N2.6 billion from N2.1 billion, while the number of deals jumped by 8.68 per cent to 4,159 deals from 3,827 deals.

United Capital ended the day as the most active stock with the sale of 24.0 million units worth N143.7 million, while Veritas Kapital tripped to the second spot for trading 23.1 million units valued at N4.6 million.

Eterna transacted 21.6 million shares valued at N164.0 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 20.5 million equities worth N470.7 million, while Transcorp traded 16.5 million stocks worth N14.6 million.

The market breadth was positive yesterday as there were 18 price gainers and 17 price losers led by Champion Breweries, which went down by 9.91 per cent to trade at N1.91.

John Holt depleted by 7.94 per cent to close at 58 kobo, Africa Prudential lost 7.26 per cent to sell for N5.75, Honeywell Flour dropped 6.61 per cent to trade at N1.13, while Chams went down by 4.76 per cent to 20 kobo.

At the other side, Morison Industries topped the gainers’ chart after its equity price went up by 9.57 per cent to N1.03 and was trailed by Coronation Insurance, which gained 9.43 per cent to sell for 58 kobo.

University Press grew by 9.40 per cent to N1.28, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance appreciated by 9.09 per cent to 72 kobo, while Regency Alliance went up by 8.89 per cent to 49 kobo.