Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian stock market further depreciated by 0.31 per cent on Friday on the back of persistent selling pressure, especially in the banking sector.
Twenty equities led by Unity Bank and FBN Holdings brought down Customs Street at the close of trading activities yesterday, as investor sentiment remained largely weak.
Business Post reports that only 14 shares led by FTN Cocoa and RT Briscoe could close in the green territory on Friday, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited went down by 306.16 points to 99,539.75 points from 99,845.91 points, and the market capitalisation declined by N174 billion to N56.296 trillion from N56.470 trillion.
Unity Bank lost 10.00 per cent to trade N1.62, FBN Holdings went down by 9.83 per cent to N24.30, Tantalizers shed 8.57 per cent to 32 Kobo, Deap Capital crashed by 7.35 per cent to 6 Kobo, and Caverton tumbled by 6.83 per cent to N1.50.
Conversely, FTN Cocoa appreciated by 9.60 per cent to N1.37, RT Briscoe gained 9.26 per cent to close at 59 Kobo, Livestock Feeds improved by 9.02 per cent to N1.45, Royal Exchange rose by 8.06 per cent to 67 Kobo, and Consolidated Hallmark went up by 7.44 per cent to N1.30.
A total of 257.9 million stocks valued at N5.4 billion were traded in 7,168 deals yesterday versus the 285.9 million stocks worth N5.5 billion traded in 7,726 deals on Thursday, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and the number of deals by 9.79 per cent, 1.82 per cent, and 7.22 per cent, respectively.
A look at the sectorial performance for the trading session showed that the industrial goods and energy sectors remained unchanged, while the insurance counter appreciated by 0.38 per cent, with the banking and consumer goods sectors closing lower by 2.77 per cent, and 0.03 per cent, respectively.
