By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Heavy losses recorded by Mobil and Dangote Cement at the equity market on the second trading day of the year (Wednesday) plunged the Nigerian index into the red territory.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), which marginally closed yesterday by 0.06 percent, slumped today by 0.20 percent.
Business Post reports that Mobil shed N17.80k of its share value today to settle at N176.80k, while Dangote Cement fell by N7 to close at N223 per share.
Other top price losers on Wednesday were Presco, which depreciated by N2 to finish at N66.50k per share; Cadbury, which declined by 65k to end at N14.95k per share; and Unilever, which went down by 35k to wrap the day at N39.86k per share.
These and other losses recorded by stocks traded at the market on Wednesday left the All-Share Index (ASI) to depreciate by 77.51 basis points to settle at 38,187.28 basis points, while the market capitalisation went down by N27.6 billion to finish at N13.590 trillion.
Business Post further reports that when transactions ended on the floor of the NSE today, the year-to-date return stood at 0.15 percent.
However, the market breadth ended positive today with only 11 depreciating stocks compared with 37 appreciating equities.
Lafarge was the highest price gainer today, growing by N2.21k to finish at N47.10k per share.
Dangote Sugar followed with N1.51k added to its share value to close at N21.87k per share, and Dangote Flour, which went up today by 60k to close at N12.75k per share.
NASCON appreciated by 58k to end at N19.80k per share, while Ecobank rose by 47k to settle at N16.74k per share.
On the activity chart today, Skye Bank was investors’ toast, trading a total of 190 million shares worth N101.7 million.
It was trailed by Transcorp, which sold 93.4 million units valued at N144.6 million; and Diamond Bank, which transacted 79.4 million shares for N136.3 million.
FCMB exchanged 61.2 million shares worth N105.5 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 21.7 million shares for N60.6 million.
Adedapo Adesanya