By Modupe Gbadeyanka
It was a quiet trading day last Friday on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with market succumbing to selling pressure to close 0.09 percent lower, making the year-to-date loss to swell to 15.80 percent.
Business Post reports that during the trading session, the volume and value of equities transacted went down to 39.41 percent and 40.86 percent respectively.
This was because the volume of equities traded decreased to 121.3 million from 200.1 million, while the value dropped to N1.6 billion from N2.7 billion.
It was observed that the All-Share Index (ASI) also reduced during Friday’s session by 28.29 points to settle at 32,200.21 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N10 billion to close at N11.756 trillion.
Looking at the activity chart during the trading day, the Financial Services sector dominated with 81.3 million shares sold for N705 million, while the Services industry followed with 16 million equities transacted for N58 million.
The day’s heaviest loser was PZ Cussons, which went down by 10 percent to close at N9 per share, while Union Bank followed with 8.49 percent loss to settle at N4.85k per share.
Oando depreciated by 7 percent to end at N4.65k per share, Dangote Flour crashed by 5.65 percent to finish at N5.85k per share, while Cadbury Nigeria dropped 5.56 percent to quote at N9.35k per share.
On the flip side, John Holt emerged as the biggest price gainer after appreciating by 10 percent to settle at 44 kobo per share.
It was followed by Livestock Feeds, which increased in value by 7.69 percent to close at 56 kobo per share, and NEM Insurance, which gained 7.69 percent to end at N2.80k per share.
LASACO Assurance grew by 7.14 percent to close at 30 kobo per share, while Air Service garnered 6.06 percent to close at N7 per share.
Dipo Olowookere 
Adedapo Adesanya