Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The benchmark indicators of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalisation, depreciated on Monday by 0.23 percent.
The negative performance of the bourse was mainly impacted by selloffs in the banking sector as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for the sector to 27.50 percent from 22.5 percent for the first time since March 2016.
At the close of transactions yesterday, the sector was the lone decliner, going down by 1.19 percent, while the energy index closed flat. The insurance sector appreciated by 0.51 percent, consumer goods rose by 0.21 percent, while the industrial index increased by 0.07 percent.
Business Post reports that while the main index depreciated on Monday by 75.85 points to settle at 29,552.99 points, the total value of listed stocks decreased by N39.1 billion to finish at N15.223 trillion.
It was observed that the market punished Unilever Nigeria for its poor fourth quarter performance. The company topped the losers’ chart on Monday, losing N1.75 to end at N15.80 per share.
Julius Berger declined by N1.35 to close at N20.15 per unit, Zenith Bank fell by 50 kobo to trade at N21.45 per share, Eterna went down by 30 kobo to sell at N2.85 per unit, while FBN Holdings depreciated by 30 kobo to quote at N7 per share.
On the other hand, Okomu led the risers’ chart, appreciating by N2 to finish at N68 per share, while Nigerian Breweries also gained N2 to close at N54 per unit.
Vitafoam improved by 30 kobo to settle at N5.30 per share, NAHCO added 24 kobo to its share price to sell at N2.69 per unit, while NPF Microfinance Bank appreciated by 11 kobo to trade at N1.24 per share.
The activity level was mixed during the session as the volume of trades rose by 135.78 percent, while the value dropped by 9.95 percent. A total of 435.2 million shares worth N3.2 billion were transacted yesterday compared with the 184.6 million equities worth N3.5 billion traded the previous session.
The busiest stock on Monday was Veritas Kapital, exchanging 226.6 million units worth N45.3 million, while Zenith Bank followed with 45.5 million units traded for N989.0 million.
GTBank exchanged 26.7 million equities valued at N856.2 million, UBA sold 17.4 million stocks for N146.5 million, while FCMB transacted 16.9 million units worth N33.0 million.
