By Dipo Olowookere
Equities at the nation’s main bourse suffered a 0.13 percent loss on Thursday as the country prepared for the June 12 Democracy Day public holiday on Friday.
The loss was buoyed by Julius Berger and 16 other stocks, expanding the year-to-date loss to 6.18 percent at the close of transactions.
The construction giant lost N1.40 at the session to sell at N19.85 per unit, while Nigerian Breweries fell by 50 kobo to quote at N42 per share.
UAC Nigeria depreciated by 30 kobo to trade at N7.20 per share, Lafarge Africa declined by 25 kobo to finish at N11.30 per unit, while Caverton lost 25 kobo to close at N2.25 per unit.
On the flip side, Neimeth continued its positive performance at the market, gaining 23 kobo on Thursday to trade at N2.57 per unit, topping the gainers’ log, which had 16 members.
Africa Prudential appreciated by 14 kobo to quote at N4.25 per share, PZ Cussons gained 10 kobo to sell at N4.90 per unit, AIICO Insurance grew by 7 kobo to close at N1.18 per share, while Law Union and Rock Insurance gained 5 kobo to settle at N1.06 per unit.
Business Post reports that the volume and value of shares traded in the day increased by 29.39 percent and 8.54 percent respectively, while the number of deals went down by 0.08 percent.
A total of 337.1 million shares worth N3.4 billion were traded by investors in 3,880 deals as against the 260.5 million equities valued at N3.1 billion traded in 3,883 deals on Wednesday.
GTBank was the most traded stock at the market, selling 81.2 million units valued at N2.0 billion, while Mutual Benefits Assurance transacted 44.8 million units worth N10.1 million.
FBN Holdings traded 25.1 million shares for N134.1 million, FCMB transacted 15.5 million stocks for N26.7 million, while Caverton exchanged 14.1 million equities for N33.8 million.
At the close of business on Thursday, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 32.37 points to 25,182.67 points from 25,215.04 points, while the market capitalisation depreciated by N17 billion to N13.137 trillion from N13.154 trillion.
Only the insurance sector appreciated during the session, gaining 0.24 percent, while every other sector closed in the red territory.
The energy space lost 0.81 percent, the banking counter declined by 0.28 percent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.24 percent, while the industrial goods space went down by 0.19 percent.
