Selloffs Resume at Nigerian Exchange as Investors Lose N19bn

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading session on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was on a negative note as the market went down by 0.10 per cent on Monday.

Selloffs mostly in consumer goods and banking stocks influenced the decline recorded at the exchange yesterday.

Business Post reports that the insurance index went down by 0.70 per cent, the banking counter declined by 0.27 per cent, while the consumer goods space shed 0.16 per cent.

But the industrial goods index appreciated yesterday by 0.13 per cent, while the oil/gas sector improved by 0.08 per cent.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 37.45 points to 38,906.42 points from 38,943.87 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N19 billion to N20.271 trillion from N20.290 trillion.

The market breadth closed at equilibrium yesterday as there were 19 price gainers and 19 price losers when trading activities were stopped for the session at 2:30 pm.

Sitting on top of the losers’ chart was SCOA Nigeria as its share price went down by 9.43 per cent to settle at 96 kobo and was followed by Veritas Kapital, which lost 8.70 per cent to trade at 21 kobo.

Linkage Assurance depreciated by 6.56 per cent to 57 kobo, PZ Cussons slipped by 5.98 per cent to N5.50, while Cornerstone Insurance went down by 5.77 per cent to 49 kobo.

On the gainers’ log, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance sat on top after its equity price increased by 9.62 per cent to 57 kobo, followed by Chams, which gained 9.52 per cent to trade at 23 kobo.

Courtville appreciated by 6.90 per cent to 31 kobo, Wema Bank grew by 3.95 per cent to 79 kobo, while NAHCO increased by 3.62 per cent to N3.15.

A look at the activity chart showed that the trading volume rose by 23.12 per cent to 191.0 million units from 155.1 million units, the trading value increased by 20.92 per cent to N2.4 billion from N2.0 billion, while the number of deals leapt by 19.13 per cent to 3,462 deals from 2,906 deals.

Eko Corporation was the most active stock with the sale of 40.0 million units worth N231.6 million, UBA traded 10.8 million units valued at N82.2 million, Transcorp sold 9.8 million units for N8.9 million, Sovereign Trust Insurance transacted 9.6 million units valued at N2.3 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 9.3 million units worth N22.2 million.