By Dipo Olowookere
More profit-taking in banking equities kept the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in the domain of the bears by 0.06 per cent on Thursday.
The stock market could not find its way back to the green territory during the session despite the gains posted by the consumer goods and insurance indices.
According to data obtained by Business Post, the banking space lost 0.63 per cent yesterday and it was enough to compound the woes of the local bourse for the 16th consecutive trading day.
But the consumer goods index appreciated by 0.14 per cent, and the insurance counter improved by 0.03 per cent, while the energy and industrial goods sectors closed flat.
When trading activities ended for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 63.63 points to 99,845.91 points from 99,909.54 points, and the market capitalisation went down by N35 billion to N56.470 trillion from N56.505 trillion.
The mood of the market has not changed as investor sentiment remained weak after a negative market breadth index caused by 19 depreciating stocks and 16 appreciating stocks.
United Capital lost 9.73 per cent to trade at N18.10, Consolidated Hallmark fell by 9.70 per cent to N1.21, CWG declined by 9.52 per cent to N5.70, Chams went down by 9.14 per cent to N1.69, and Sunu Assurances retreated by 8.26 per cent to N1.00.
On the other side of the coin, Guinness Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N55.00, Neimeth expanded by 9.76 per cent to N1.80, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.73 per cent to N3.72, International Energy Insurance increased by 9.30 per cent to N1.41, and Regency Alliance grew by 8.33 per cent to 39 Kobo.
The activity chart reflected the waning appetite for domestic shares on Thursday as the trading volume, value, and the number of deals plunged by 11.40 per cent, 5.17 per cent, and 14.86 per cent, respectively.
A total of 285.9 million stocks valued at N5.5 billion exchanged hands in 7,726 deals yesterday, in contrast to the 322.7 million stocks valued at N5.8 billion traded in 9,074 deals on Wednesday.
Access Holdings recorded the highest turnover on Thursday with 44.0 million equities sold for N766.2 million, GTCO traded 32.8 million shares valued at N1.1 billion, UBA transacted 28.5 million stocks worth N650.0 million, Transcorp exchanged 23.6 million stocks for N326.7 million, and Zenith Bank traded 22.0 million shares worth at N796.0 million.
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