By Dipo Olowookere
The stock dumping activities by investors in the past trading sessions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited continued on Thursday, sinking the market further by 3.23 per cent.
The heavy loss printed yesterday sank the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1,575.81 points to 47,260.89 points from 48,836.70 points. Also, the market capitalisation depreciated during the session by N858 billion to N25.742 trillion from N26.600 trillion.
The loss posted on Thursday was influenced by most of the sub-sectors of the platform, with the banking space losing 0.86 per cent, the industrial goods sector falling by 0.32 per cent, the insurance counter going down by 0.31 per cent, the consumer goods landscape quaking by 0.11 per cent, while the energy index closed flat.
Business Post reports that the selling pressure witnessed during the session plunged the price of Airtel Africa by 10.00 per cent to N1,800.00. Presco lost 9.99 per cent to N128.35, Okomu Oil fell by 9.98 per cent to N169.50, Honeywell Flour declined by 8.66 per cent to N2.11, and Red Star Express depreciated by 8.62 per cent to N2.12.
On the flip side, Geregu Power continued its honeymoon yesterday as its share price rose by 9.91 per cent to N120.90, Livestock Feeds appreciated by 9.80 per cent to N1.12, Cutix improved by 8.00 per cent to N2.16, Cornerstone Insurance rose by 3.92 per cent to 53 Kobo, and FCMB gained 3.83 per cent to trade at N3.25.
The market breadth remained bearish at the close of trades as there were 23 price losers and 14 price gainers, showing a weak investor sentiment.
Yesterday, investors transacted 140.7 million shares valued at N2.5 billion in 4,371 deals as against the 135.5 million shares worth N2.2 billion transacted in 4,041 deals in the midweek session, indicating an increase in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 3.80 per cent, 13.39 per cent and 8.17 per cent, respectively.
Adedapo Adesanya