NSE Index Drops 0.55% as YTD Return Hits -5.98%

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The local bourse in Nigeria extended its downtrend at the close of trading activities on Wednesday with the market depreciating by 0.55 percent.

But despite the decline in performance on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), investors’ sentiment stayed positive as market breadth closed positive, with 21 stocks appreciating against 14 equities that went down.

The All-Share Index (ASI) shed 139.04 points to close at 25,267.68 points, while the market capitalisation stood at N8.74 trillion after losing N48 billion.

Business Post reports that at the close of Wednesday’s activities, the year-to-date (YTD) return stood at -5.98 percent.

Today’s losers’ chart was topped by Mobil Plc, which dropped N2.25k to close at N295 per share, while Unilever followed with a loss of N1.90k to finish at N32 per share.

Oando Plc went down by 25k to end at N4.83k per share, Custodian and Allied Plc fell by 15k to finish at N3.21k per share and First Bank Holdings weakened by 8k to close at N3.3k per share.

At the other side of the table, Total Plc gained N9.98k to end at N269.98k per share, while Forte Oil improved by N2 to finish at N47 per share.

Guinness Nigeria Plc increased by 73k to close at N60.80k per share, Transcorp Hotel advanced by 46k to end at N5.4k per share and UACN grew by 31k to finish at N13.30k per share.

Investors exchanged a total of 771.7 million shares today valued at N2.6 billion and executed in 2,703 deals.