By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed on a bearish note on Thursday, making it the third day in a row the stock exchange was recording losses this week as a result of continued selloffs of some high cap stocks at the market.
The weakening of the local bourse has been influenced by investor sentiment towards the market, which has remained bearish in the absence of any significant market information to arouse any buying interest.
Though the depreciation recorded by the stock market yesterday was marginal, 0.07 percent, it left the year-to-date gain at -2.66 percent.
While the All-Share Index reduced by 26.81 points to close at 37,226.44 points, the market capitalisation shed N10 billion to finish at N13.485 trillion.
Business Post reports that at wrap of transactions, the local bourse finished with a total of 16 gainers and 28 price losers.
Beta Glass emerged as the highest price loser yesterday after losing N9.10k of its share value to finish at N81 per share.
Forte Oil declined by N1.10k to settle at N30.20k per share, while Nigerian Breweries depreciated by 80 kobo to close at N110.20k per share.
Dangote Sugar decreased by 50 kobo to end at N17 per share, while GlaxoSmithKline went down by 45 kobo to close at N18.55k per share.
On the flip side, International Breweries topped the gainers’ chart on Thursday, adding N2.15k to its share price to settle at N40.50k per share.
It was followed by Dangote Cement, which went up by N2 to close at N227 per share, and Lafarge, which grew by 60 kobo to end at N34.50k per share.
Custodian Investment appreciated by 53 kobo to close at N6.80k per share, while Stanbic IBTC flourished by 50 kobo to end at N51.50k per share.
The volume of transactions recorded at the market yesterday increased by 22.08 percent just as the value of trades went up by 22.85 percent.
The market recorded a total of 350.5 million shares exchanging hands on Thursday in 3,228 deals worth N4.6 billion in contrast to the 287.1 million shares sold on Thursday in 3,526 deals valued at N3.6 billion.
The Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 179.9 million equities exchanged for N1.9 billion and was followed by the Services industry, which recorded the sale of 88.6 million shares valued at N484 million.
NAHCO emerged the most traded stock yesterday, selling a total of 88.1 million shares valued at N483.5 million.
It was followed by Access Bank, which sold 42.9 million equities traded for N428.8 million, and Zenith Bank, which exchanged 40.8 million shares valued at N980.2 million.
Sovereign Trust Insurance transacted 33.8 million for N7 million, while International Breweries traded 21 million equities worth N777 million.
Dipo Olowookere 
Adedapo Adesanya