Stock Exchange in Stalemate as Market Cap Remains at N28.300trn

By Dipo Olowookere

The successive losses at the domestic stock exchange were temporarily halted on Wednesday after the key performance barometers ended in a stalemate when the closing gong was struck by 2:30 pm.

This occurred as the level of activity waned in the midweek session, as the trading volume, value and the number of deals finished lower by 85.19 per cent, 62.50 per cent, and 9.24 per cent, respectively.

This was because investors transacted 255.2 million shares valued at N1.8 billion in 3,890 deals compared with the 1.7 billion shares valued at N4.8 billion traded in 4,286 deals on Tuesday.

Transcorp closed the session as the most traded stock as it transacted 117.5 million units, Fidelity Bank exchanged 38.0 million units, UBA traded 19.8 million units, Zenith Bank sold 11.4 million units, and Royal Exchange traded 5.9 million units.

Business Post reports that the sectorial performance was better during the midweek session as the insurance counter grew by 0.31 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 0.19 per cent, the industrial goods sector closed higher by 0.01 per cent, and the energy counter closed flat, while the banking sector depreciated by 0.09 per cent.

But at the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) slightly moved up by 0.42 points to 51,953.41 points from 51,952.99 points, while the market remained unchanged at N28.300 trillion.

Investor sentiment was strong on Wednesday as the market breadth ended on a positive note, with 17 price gainers and 14 price losers.

Skyway Aviation gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N5.50, ABC Transport rose by 9.68 per cent to 34 Kobo, Berger Paints appreciated by 8.57 per cent to N7.60, International Breweries expanded by 7.41 per cent to N4.35, and Multiverse jumped by 4.17 per cent to N2.50.

On the flip side, Royal Exchange lost 10.00 per cent to quote at 54 Kobo, Champion Breweries shrank by 9.84 per cent to N4.58, CWG declined by 7.53 per cent to 86 Kobo, Mutual Benefits dropped 5.88 per cent to 32 Kobo, and Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group went down by 4.23 per cent to N24.90.