By Dipo Olowookere
The decision of investors to continue to reduce their exposure to risk and focus on protecting their capital is already causing the stock market to bleed.
On Tuesday, the sustained cautious trading further sank the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited deeper by 0.08 per cent, with 17 equities closing in the danger zone compared with the 12 stocks that closed in the green territory.
This squeezed the market capitalisation further by N16 billion at the close of business to N19.940 trillion from N19.956 trillion and trimmed the All-Share Index (ASI) by 30.82 points to 38,256.76 points from 38,287.58 points.
Business Post reports that the insurance and banking counters depreciated by 1.61 per cent and 0.47 per cent respectively yesterday, while the consumer goods sector appreciated by 0.02 per cent, with the energy and industrial goods indices closing flat.
The worst-performing stock of the day was Lasaco Assurance as its value went down by 7.14 per cent to N1.43, followed by Champion Breweries, which dropped 5.66 per cent to trade at N2.00.
AIICO lost 4.96 per cent to close at N1.15, Chams depreciated by 4.76 per cent to 20 kobo, while Axa Mansard Insurance declined by 4.44 per cent to 86 kobo.
On the other hand, the best-performing stock was C&I Leasing as its value rose by 9.85 per cent to N4.46, while Royal Exchange gained 8.82 per cent to sell for 74 kobo.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance appreciated on Tuesday by 7.27 per cent to 59 kobo, Neimeth gained 7.02 per cent to quote at N1.83, while The Initiates improved by its value by 6.82 per cent to 47 kobo.
Yesterday, a total of 250.2 million equities worth N1.6 billion were traded by market participants in 3,534 deals in contrast to the 141.2 million equities worth N1.1 billion transacted in 3,566 deals on Monday.
Courtville closed the session as the most active with the sale of 36.9 million units valued at N7.5 million and was trailed by Zenith Bank, which traded 28.2 million units worth N649.4 million.
Jaiz Bank exchanged 25.9 million shares for N14.8 million, Chams sold 16.1 million equities valued at N3.2 million, while Sterling Bank transacted 13.7 million stocks worth N21.8 million.
