Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited found itself in the red territory on Tuesday following the 0.48 per cent loss it posted at the close of transactions.
Selling pressure on insurance stocks contributed to the decline suffered by the equity market yesterday as the sector’s index went down by 1.75 per cent due to the decision of traders to offload NEM Insurance and other underwriting equities.
The share price of NEM Insurance depleted by 10.00 per cent during the session to close at N4.05, as Chellarams lost 9.90 per cent to trade at N1.82. Champion Breweries crashed by 9.58 per cent to N4.34, Cornerstone Insurance depreciated by 6.67 per cent to 56 Kobo, and Honeywell Flour dropped 4.96 per cent to settle at N2.30.
On the flip side, Thomas Wyatt continued its bullish run by chalking up 9.43 per cent to quote at N1.16, Mutual Benefits appreciated by 7.14 per cent to 30 Kobo, Academy Press grew by 5.65 per cent to N1.31, Lasaco Assurance gained 4.44 per cent to finish at 94 Kobo, and Chams rose by 4.35 per cent to end the day at 24 Kobo.
Despite the poor outcome, the stock exchange recorded a positive market and strong investor sentiment as the number of price gainers outweighed the price losers at 18:16.
Business Post reports that apart from the insurance sector, which lost yesterday, the consumer goods counter closed lower by 0.23 per cent, while the industrial goods and banking sectors appreciated by 1.54 per cent and 0.07 per cent, respectively, with the energy index closing flat.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of the bourse went down by N134 billion to N28.022 trillion from N28.156 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 246.48 points to 51,446.60 points from 51,693.08 points.
The activity level improved on Tuesday as the trading volume, value, and number of deals increased by 50.74 per cent, 186.21 per cent, and 7.28 per cent, respectively.
A total of 345.5 million shares worth N8.3 billion were traded in 4,184 deals during the session, in contrast to the 229.2 million shares worth N2.9 billion traded in 3,900 deals on Monday.
FBN Holdings recorded the highest trading volume as it sold 151.4 million units. BUA Cement traded 30.5 million shares, Zenith Bank exchanged 25.5 million equities, Fidelity Bank sold 18.6 million shares, and Transcorp exchanged 13.0 million stocks.
