By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) further closed bearish on Wednesday as negative sentiments continued to drag the market down, declining again today by 0.91 percent.
The major market indicators weakened in the midweek trade as prices of equities traded on the stock exchange continue to go down as a result of profit-taking by investors.
The volume and value of stocks further depreciated today as investors tread cautiously as the end of the year draws closer.
The All-Share Index (ASI) went down at the close of trading activities on Wednesday by 335.96 points to close at 36,617.45 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N116.3 billion to settle at N12.7 trillion.
Like the previous day, the market breadth ended negative on Wednesday with 15 price gainers and 25 price losers.
The price gainers were led by Guinness Nigeria, which appreciated by N1 to close at N101 per share, and GTBank, which grew by 94k to finish at N42.50k per share.
International Breweries increased by 45k to settle at N50 per share, Zenith Bank rose by 27k to end at N23.95k per share, and Red Star Express garnered 24k to close at N5.4k per share.
On the price losers’ chart, Dangote Cement claimed the top spot after losing N6.55k of its share value to close at N230 per share.
PZ Cussons followed with N2 lost to settle at N20.40k per share, and 7up also went down by N2 to finish at N86 per share.
Unilever depreciated by N1.90k to end at N36.10k per share, while NASCON declined by 77k to close at N14.63k per share.
Business Post reports that FBN Holdings emerged the most active equity at the market on Wednesday, trading 27 million shares worth N183.5 million.
Zenith Bank sold 24.7 million shares for N594 million, and Fidelity Bank transacted 18 million shares valued at N28.7 million.
Diamond Bank exchanged 14.9 million shares valued at N16.3 million, while UBA sold 14.5 million shares for N138.5 million.
At the close of trading today, financial stocks traded a total of 134.222 million shares worth N1.28 billion, while consumer goods stocks sold a total of 21.173 million shares valued at N1.82 billion.
In all, investors exchanged a total of 184.3 million shares worth N3.3 billion in 3,590 deals compared with 238.5 million shares valued at N3.4 billion sold yesterday in 4,238 deals.
