By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The bears maintained their dominance on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, causing the market to further depreciate by 1.64 percent at the close of transactions.
More blue chip companies suffered losses today with Nigerian Breweries leading the pack after dropping N7.97k to close at N158.3k per share.
It was trailed by Okomu Oil, which tripped by N3.40k to finish at N64.80k per share, and Presco, which fell by N3 to end at N73 per share.
Furthermore, Mobil slumped by N2.90k to settle at N248 per share, while Julius Berger weakened by N2.18k to close at N41.52k per share.
At the end of trading activities, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped down to the 32,000 mark, barely three weeks after moving out of the region, to close at 32,928.44 points today after shedding 549.45 points.
Also, the market capitalisation declined by N190 billion today to finish at N11.4 trillion, while the YTD Return further cropped to 22.53 percent.
Business Post reports that a total of 510 million shares worth N5 billion exchanged hands at the Nigerian stock market on Wednesday and were executed in 5,321 deals.
Our correspondent further reports that the market breadth closed negative with a total of 45 stocks declining in contrast to only 14 equities which appreciated.
This group 14 advancers was led by Conoil, which increased by N4.14k to wrap the day at N44.56k per share.
It was closely followed by Ashaka Cement, which advanced by N1.50k to end at N16.27k per share, and Berger Paints, which moved up by 65k to finish at N7.12k per share.
Furthermore, UBA grew by 38k to settle at N9.20k per share, while UACN progressed by 10k to end at N18 per share.
Banking stocks continued to attract interest of investors, making UBA emerge the most active stock today, accounting for 89 million units sold at N776 million.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Dipo Olowookere