Equities market drops by 0.05% on Wednesday

By Philemon Adedeji

Nigerian equities yesterday closed the trading session lower as the market capitalisation lost N12 billion.

The All-Share Index (ASI) dipped by 23.40 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.05 per cent to close at 49,421.91 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation size shed N12 billion to close at N26.658 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), Cadbury Nigeria, FBN Holdings (FBNH), NEM Insurance and Academy Press.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 12 stocks lost relative to 10 gainers.

Unity Bank  recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at 44 kobo, per share. Multiverse Mining and Exploration  followed with a gain 9.82 per cent to close at N3.13, while Fidelity Bank up by 5.46 per cent to close at N3.67 per share.

Honeywell Flour Mills went up by 3.98 per cent to close at N2.35, while Chams rose by 3.45 per cent to close at 30 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Academy Press led the losers’ chart by 9.78 per cent, to close at N1.66, per share. NEM Insurance followed with a decline of 6.08 per cent to close at N5.25, while Cadbury Nigeria fell by 5.45 per cent to close at N13.00 per share.

Jaiz Bank went down by 4.76 per cent to close at 80 kobo, while NGX Group shed 4.38 per cent to close at N18.55 per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded decreased by 64.85 per cent to 51.877 million units, valued at N590.009 million, and exchanged in 2,981 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 6.301 million shares valued at N125.539 million. Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO)  followed with 4.988 million shares worth N94.919 million, while Sterling Bank traded 4.860 million shares valued at N7.285 million.

Fidelity Bank traded 3.850 million shares valued at N13.622 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) transacted 2.951 million shares worth N3.101 million.