By Dipo Olowookere
Persistent sell-offs further weakened Customs Street on Thursday by 0.43 per cent, as traders begin to reduce their exposure to equities for more attractive investment instruments in the fixed-income space.
The banking and the industrial goods sectors were the mostly affected yesterday, closing lower by 2.67 per cent and 0.09 per cent, respectively.
However, the consumer goods counter gained 0.46 per cent and the insurance index appreciated by 0.43 per cent, while the energy space closed flat when trading activities ended for the day by 2”30 pm.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited went down by 445.24 points to 103,736.08 points from 104,181.32 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N251 billion to end at N58.654 trillion compared with Wednesday’s N58.905 trillion.
Investor sentiment remained bearish yesterday after the stock exchange ended with 23 price gainers and 26 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.
C&I Leasing declined by 9.79 per cent to N3.50, Mutual Benefits fell by 8.57 per cent to 64 Kobo, Tantalizers lost 7.89 per cent to trade at 35 Kobo, Unity Bank slumped by 7.39 per cent to N2.13, and Jaiz Bank dropped 7.23 per cent to sell for N2.18.
On the other side of the coin, Morison Industries gained 9.84 per cent to settle at N2.12, SCON Nigeria jumped by 9.77 per cent to N2.36, International Energy Insurance rose by 9.72 per cent to N1.58, NEM Insurance expanded by 9.50 per cent to N9.80, and The Initiates increased by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
The NGX was busy yesterday despite the overriding negative market sentiment influenced by profit-taking activities, with the trading volume and value up by 20.42 per cent, and 75.28 per cent, respectively, while the number of deals crumbled by 14.05 per cent.
Investors transacted 487.7 million shares valued at N15.6 billion in 8,908 deals on Thursday, in contrast to the 405.0 million shares worth N8.9 billion traded in 10,364 deals at midweek.
Modupe Gbadeyanka