Stock Market Closes Red, Reverses Marginal Gain

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Equity transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) close negative on Wednesday, reversing the gain recorded the previous day.

The 16 stocks that depreciated at the close of trading activities today pulled the market southward, leaving the 10 equities that appreciated with less impact on the market.

The All-Share Index (ASI), which went down by 134.46 points or 0.54 percent, ended at 24,986.02 points today, while the Market Capitalisation declined by N49.6 billion to close at N8.65 trillion.

Investors traded a total of 218.7 million shares today in 3,191 deals worth N3.9 billion compared with 215.4 million transacted yesterday in 3,692 deals valued at N2.6 billion.

Seplat emerged the biggest loser on Wednesday after crashing by N20 to close at N380 per share, while Dangote Cement followed with a loss of N4.46k to finish at N152.15k per share.

Forte Oil depreciated by N2.74k to end at N52.16k per share, Lafarge lost N1.95k to finish at N37.5k per share and Ashaka Cement went down by 89k to close at N10.36k per share.

On the other hand, Nigerian Breweries led the gainers’ chart after rising by N6.65k to finish at N139.80k per share.

Guinness trailed by going up by N2.54k to close at N66.94k per share and Unilever rose by N1.40k to end at N29.40k per share.

Dangote Sugar appreciated by 27k today to finish at N6 per share, while Ecobank advanced by 10k to end at N10.10k per share.

The Financial Services sector dominated the market on Wednesday with Stanbic IBTC, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Fidelity Bank and First Bank emerging the top five most traded equities.