By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Nigerian stocks remained in red at the close of transactions on Tuesday, depreciating further by 0.08 percent to trim the year-to-date return to 29.66 percent.
At the close of trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today, Seplat emerged the biggest loser, shedding N6.76k to settle at NN450 per share.
It was followed by 7up, which lost N4.48k to finish at N85.82k per share, and Nigerian Breweries, which fell by N2.1k to end at N167.99k per share.
Total Plc declined by N1.90k to close at N223.10k per share, while PZ Cussons depreciated by N1 to wrap the day at N24 per share.
Though the volume of trade still remained low today, it slightly finished higher than what was achieved the previous day with a total 174.7 million shares exchanging hands in 3,783 deals worth N2.8 billion.
This is in contrast to 162.7 million shares transacted by investors on Monday in 3,225 deals valued at N1.5 billion.
However, the market breadth remained negative as the Nigerian stock market closed with 24 losers and 24 gainers.
The appreciating equities were led by Nestle, which went up by N23.90k to settle at N1228.90k per share.
It was trailed by GTBank, which grew by 54k to close at N38.54k per share, and Stanbic IBTC, which advanced by 50k to end at N40 per share.
Unilever progressed by 20k to finish at N42 per share, while Guinness Nigeria added 15k to its share value to close at N96.80k per share.
Business Post reports that the market capitalisation shrank by N9 billion today to settle at N12 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 26.25 points to finish at 34,846.82 points.
Financial stocks attracted investors’ attention on Tuesday with GTBank emerging the most stock, exchanging 33.8 million shares worth N1.3 billion.
FCMB traded 12.6 million shares valued at N12.9 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 12.5 million at N65.2 million.
Furthermore, Axa Mansard Insurance moved 11.6 million shares worth N23 million, and Zenith Bank traded 10.6 million shares at N232.6 million.
