Equities market depreciates further, drops by N516bn
The bears continued to dominate the equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) as the capitalisation declined by N516 billion to close on Tuesday trading following profit-taking activity on large capitalised stocks.
The All Share Index (ASI) decreased by 958.16 absolute points, representing a dip of 1.86 per cent to close at 50,442.37 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation lost N516 billion to close at N27.202 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Nigerian Breweries, PZ Cussons Nigeria, United Capital, Flour Mills of Nigeria and Zenith Bank Plc.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 37 stocks lost relative to three gainers.
Livestock Feeds recorded the highest price gain of 1.63 per cent to close at N1.25 per share. FBN Holdings (FBNH) followed with a gain of 1.36 per cent to close at N11.15, while Sterling Bank rose 1.32 per cent to close at N1.53 per share.
On the other hand, Trans-Nationwide Express led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at 63 kobo per share. International Breweries followed with a decline of 9.91 per cent to close at N5.00, while PZ Cussons Nigeria declined by 9.62 per cent to close at N9.40 per share.
MTNN lost 9.62 per cent to close at N192.50, while Berger Paints shed 9.49 per cent to close at N6.2, per share.
The total volume traded increased by 58.0 per cent to 156.167 million units, valued at N2.937 billion, and exchanged in 4,618 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Flour Mills of Nigeria topped the activity chart with 19.318 million shares valued at N618.05 million. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) followed with 15.400 million shares worth N16.345 million, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 12.685 million shares valued at N259.673 million.
Zenith Bank traded 11.388 million shares valued at N243.690 million, while FBN Holdings (FBNH) transacted 9.945 million shares worth N108.171 million.
