Customs Street Down 0.41% as Bears Overrun Bulls

By Dipo Olowookere

The bears made a comeback to Customs Street on Wednesday, crashing it by 0.41 per cent at the close of business due to selling pressure by investors.

Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the market breadth index was negative at midweek, after recording 43 price losers and 23 price gainers, implying weak investor sentiment.

Cornerstone Insurance lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N5.40, Legend Internet also depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N4.05, The Initiates declined by 9.91 per cent to N30.00, Guinea Insurance slipped by 9.78 per cent to 83 Kobo, and ABC Transport fell by 9.45 per cent to N5.75.

Conversely, Lasaco Assurance improved by 10.00 per cent to N2.42, NEM Insurance jumped by 9.97 per cent to N34.20, SUNU Assurances grew by 9.83 per cent to N3.91, Prestige Assurance went up by 7.14 per cent to N1.50, and CMFC gained 2.64 per cent to close at N3.89.

The activity level was mixed yesterday, as the trading volume increased by 12.11 per cent, the trading value declined by 7.14 per cent, and the number of deals slumped by 0.29 per cent.

The busiest equity for the session was FCMB, which traded 92.4 million units valued at N1.1 billion. First Holdco transacted 71.1 million units worth N8.8 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 43.3 million units for N1.2 billion, Sterling Holdings sold 35.8 million units valued at N285.2 million, and Zenith Bank closed with a turnover of 31.0 million units worth N3.9 billion.

When the market closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,004.38 points to 246,980.17 points from the preceding day’s 247,984.55 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by N648 billion to N159.345 trillion from Tuesday’s closing value of N159.993 trillion.