By Dipo Olowookere
The All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed below 46,000 points on Tuesday following the decline in the share prices of Airtel Africa, Nigerian Breweries and 16 others.
Business Post reports that the market crashed by 2.16 per cent yesterday amid heavy selling pressure, which jerked the trading volume higher by over 200 per cent.
Investors are recalibrating their exposure to stocks for lesser risky ventures like bonds, treasury bills, mutual funds, and others, which guarantee a fixed return on investment as the equity market is getting more volatile.
Yesterday, the ASI went down by 999.63 points to close at 45,366.32 points compared with Monday’s 46,365.95 points, while the market capitalisation depreciated by N544 billion to close at N24.710 trillion compared with the previous day’s N25.254 trillion.
Investor sentiment turned pale during the session as the market breadth finished negative with 18 price losers and 15 price gainers.
Airtel Africa lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N1,458.00, Nigerian Breweries fell by 9.80 per cent to N41.90, CWG depreciated by 8.64 per cent to 75 Kobo, Jaiz Bank declined by 5.56 per cent to 85 Kobo, and Courteville went down by 4.17 per cent to 46 Kobo.
Conversely, United Capital appreciated by 9.69 per cent to N12.45, Regency Assurance rose by 8.33 per cent to 26 Kobo, Sovereign Trust Insurance improved by 7.69 per cent to 28 Kobo, Mutual Benefits expanded by 7.41 per cent to 29 Kobo, and Honeywell Flour increased by 6.84 per cent to N2.50.
On the activity chart, trading volume rose by 204.59 per cent as investors exchanged 420.3 million shares worth N3.6 billion compared with the 138.0 million shares worth N4.3 billion traded on Monday.
In terms of the performance of the sectors of the bourse, the consumer goods space lost 1.14 per cent, and the energy counter fell by 0.28 per cent.
However, the industrial goods sector appreciated by 1.38 per cent, the banking counter rose by 0.95 per cent, and the insurance space improved by 0.47 per cent.
