Investors Lose N135bn Trading Local Equities as Sentiment Wanes

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited shed 0.15 per cent on Wednesday amid a weak investor sentiment, which arose from a negative market breadth index due to the price losers outweighing the price gainers on a ratio of 28 by 23.

Deap Capital lost 9.42 per cent to trade at N1.73, Legend Internet depreciated by 9.26 per cent to N4.90, Coronation Insurance slipped by 8.75 per cent to N16.25, RT Briscoe declined by 8.16 per cent to N3.60, and May and Baker crashed by 7.14 per cent to N16.25.

Conversely, Dangote Sugar gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N59.40, Mecure grew by 9.95 per cent to N23.75, Cornerstone Insurance rose by 8.00 per cent to N6.48, UPDC REIT expanded by 5.00 per cent to N7.35, and Stanbic IBTC improved by 3.93 per cent to N101.85.

During the session the market participants traded 442.6 million shares worth N17.0 billion in 21,684 deals versus the 759.1 million shares valued at N25.7 billion transacted in 23,657 deals on Tuesday, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number deals by 41.69 per cent, 33.85 per cent, and 8.34 per cent, respectively.

It was observed that the loss posted by Customs Street yesterday was driven by the insurance and energy sectors, which closed lower by 0.25 per cent and 0.05 per cent apiece.

They suppressed the gains recorded by the other sectors, as the banking counter increased by 1.29 per cent, the consumer goods space soared by 0.35 per cent, and the industrial goods industry gained 0.25 per cent

When the bourse closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 213.50 points to 140,716.10 points from 140,929.60 points and the market capitalisation contracted by N135 billion to N89.064 trillion from the previous session’s N89.199 trillion.