Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian equity market depreciated by 0.28 per cent on Wednesday, the third straight trading session this week, as a result of persistent sell-offs.
The banking stocks influenced the downfall of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited today, as investors book profit after days of price appreciation.
The Initiates and Secure Electronic Technology were the biggest price decliners of the session after dropping 10.00 per cent each to N2.16 and 54 Kobo, respectively. FBN Holdings went down by 9.90 per cent to N39.60, Vitafoam declined by 9.88 per cent to N19.15, and Berger Paints lost 9.80 per cent to trade at N15.65.
Conversely, the duo of CWG and NEM Insurance topped the gainers’ chart after they gained 10.00 per cent each to sell at N6.05 and N8.80 apiece, Juli rose by 9.98 per cent to N6.50, International Energy Insurance appreciated by 9.85 per cent to N1.45, and Thomas Wyatt increased by 9.55 per cent to N2.18.
Analysis by Business Post revealed that investor sentiment was strong today despite the loss, as the bourse ended with 29 price advancers and 24 price decliners, implying a positive market breadth index.
The banking index depreciated by 1.79 per cent at midweek, while the industrial goods space closed flat, with the insurance, energy, and consumer goods sectors improving by 2.09 per cent, 0.24 per cent, and 0.14 per cent, respectively.
The All-Share Index (ASI) was down on Wednesday by 296.50 points to 104,256.81 points from 104,553.31 points, and the market capitalisation shrank by N168 billion to N58.948 trillion from N59.116 trillion.
The activity level was poor today, with the trading volume, value, and the number of deals going down by 2.74 per cent, 10.53 per cent, and 13.62 per cent, respectively.
Investors exchanged 298.7 million stocks valued at N6.8 billion in 8,248 deals during the session versus the 307.1 million stocks valued at N7.6 billion traded in 9,548 deals yesterday.
FBN Holdings recorded the highest trading volume, with a turnover of 38.8 million units worth N1.6 billion, UBA traded 29.1 million units valued at N762.8 million, Transcorp exchanged 26.3 million units for N372.5 million, Fidelity Bank sold 18.2 million units worth N185.1 million, and Access Holdings transacted 18.0 million units valued at N413.0 million.
