Local Stocks Shed 0.21% as year-to-date Gain Shrinks to 2.41%

By Dipo Olowookere

The ley trading indices of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) were in the red territory on Tuesday, which was the first trading day of the new month, November.

Business Post reports that local stocks depreciated by 0.21 per cent during the session, shrinking the year-to-date gain to 2.41 per cent at the close of transactions.

Data showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 93.35 points to 43,745.73 points from 43,839.08 points as the market capitalisation depleted by N51 billion to close at N23.827 trillion, in contrast to the previous day’s N23.878 trillion.

A total of 172.9 million shares worth N4.0 billion were traded in 4,110 deals yesterday compared with the 161.1 million shares worth N3.5 billion in 4,258 deals transacted on Monday, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 3.48 per cent, an increase in the trading volume by 7.32 per cent and an improvement in the trading value by 15.68 per cent.

Access Holdings was the most traded stock by selling 24.7 million units, Sterling Bank exchanged 22.0 million units, Transcorp transacted 15.2 million, UBA traded 13.8 million units, and Zenith Bank sold 9.6 million units.

The industrial goods and the banking sectors appreciated by 1.33 per cent and 0.07 per cent, respectively, while the energy, consumer goods, and insurance counters fell by 4.31 per cent, 1.58 per cent, and 0.43 per cent, apiece.

Investor sentiment remained weak on Tuesday as the market breadth closed negative with the closure of 18 stocks on the losers’ chart and 15 stocks on the gainers’ table.

Julius Berger was the worst-performing stock as it lost 9.46 per cent to trade at N23.45, Seplat fell by 8.33 per cent to N1,1000.00, Chams declined by 8.00 per cent to 23 Kobo, Linkage Assurance went down by 7.69 per cent to 36 Kobo, and University Press decreased by 6.15 per cent to N1.68.

On the flip side, NAHCO gained 9.35 per cent to quote at N6.20, Regency Assurance grew by 4.35 per cent to 24 Kobo, UPDC improved by 4.21 per cent to 99 Kobo, AIICO Insurance rose by 3.64 per cent to 57 Kobo, and Lasaco Assurance jumped by 3.57 per cent to trade at 87 Kobo.