By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The equities market finished in the negative territory on Wednesday for the fifth consecutive session with the All-share Index (ASI) and market capitalization losing 0.25 percent.
This occurred despite the improving macroeconomic environment in Nigeria with 1.95 percent GDP growth in Q1 2018 and the inflation moderating to 12.48 percent, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) few days ago.
Specifically, the ASI went down by 98.74 points to close at 40,150.55 points, while the market capitalisation depreciated by N36 billion to end at N14.544 trillion.
Business Post reports that apart from the Oil & Gas index which grew by 0.08 percent, every other sectors finished lower.
The banking index depreciated today by 0.17 percent, the insurance index by 0.30 percent, the consumer goods index by 0.47 percent, and the industrial goods index by 0.10 percent.
This was as a result of the 28 declining stocks at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today against the 15 appreciating stocks.
UAC of Nigeria closed the day as the top loser after losing N1.35k of its share value to settle at N14.50k per share.
It was followed by CAP, which went down by N1.15k to end at N38.85k per share, and Flour Mills, which depreciated by 95k to finish at N32.40k per share.
Nigerian Breweries lost 80k to settle at N122.20k per share, while Dangote Flour dropped 50k to close at N10.05k per share.
On the flip side, it was a good day for MRS Oil Nigeria as its shares appreciated by N1.45k to finish at N31.20k per share.
Ikeja Hotels continued its forward movement today with 20k added to its share valued to close at N2.24k per share, while Fidson gained 16k to end at N5.90k per share.
GTBank rose by 10k to settle at N43.50k per share, while FBN Holdings also grew by 10k to close at N10.70k per share.
Business Post reports that while the volume of equities traded by investors today went down by 5.18 percent, the value went up by 14.23 percent.
A total of 266.7 million stocks were exchanged today in 3,721 deals worth N4.7 billion in contrast to the 281.3 million shares sold the previous day in 4,304 deals valued at N4.1 billion.
These transactions were buoyed by equities in the Financial Services sector, which led the activity chart with 143.5 million shares worth N1.9 billion and in the Services industry, which followed with 48.4 million shares traded for N107 million.
At the close of business in the midweek session, Ikeja Hotels, Access Bank, Fidson, Transcorp and Zenith Bank emerged the most active stocks by volume.
