By Philemon Adedeji
Opening the week yesterday, trading activities on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed in red zone caused by Selloffs in WAPCO (-1.66 per cent), Geregu (-10.00 per cent) and Ecobank TransnationaI Incorporation (ETI)(-0.90 per cent) offset demand for MTNN (+0.57 per cent), Zenith Bank (+3.07 per cent), and GTCO (+3.17 per cent), driving the weak performance.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) relapsed by 107.03 basis points or 0.20 per cent to close at 52,296.48 absolute points from 52,403.51 absolute points it closed for previous trading day.
Respectively, the ASI’s year-to-date (YTD) return decreased to 2.04 per cent, while the market capitalisation value lost N58.28 billion to close at N28.475 trillion from N28.533 trillion it closed trade on Friday.
The downturn performance was impacted by price depreciation in medium and large capitalised stocks which are Geregu power, Transnational Corporation, Wapco Insurance, Africa Prudential and 19 others.
The breakdown of yesterday’s market performance indicated trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 60.59 per cent.
The trade volume declined further by 82.4 per cent to 550,293,697 million shares valued at N5.150 billion were exchanged in 6,250 deals.
Access Corporation led the volume and value charts with 150.07 million units traded in deals worth N1.57 billion.
The market sentiments as measured by market breadth closed positive, as Conoil led 30 gainers on the price movement table, while Geregu power led 23 losers on the laggard table.
On the positive side, Conoil and Union Bank of Nigeria came as the most price gainers which appreciated by 10.00 per cent each increased to close at N44. 00 and N7.70 per share respectively.
Multiverse and Mining Evaporation which recorded as the last third gainer rose by 9.71 per cent to close at N3.05 per share.
Nigerian Aviation Handling Company which recorded as the last fourth gainer grew by 9.62 per cent to close at N13.10 per share, while Nigerian Breweries which recorded as the last fifth gainer went up by 9.38 per cent to close at N35 per share.
However, on the negative side, Geregu power led as the highest loser which suffered 10.00 per cent loss to close at N290.70 per share, closely followed by Transnational Corporation which shed 9.96 per cent to close at N2.53 per share, while Africa Prudential which recorded as the last third loser went down by 9.40 per cent to close at N5.30 per share.
International Breweries lost 8.51 per cent to close at N4.30 per share, while Ikeja Hotel which recorded as the last fifth loser dipped by 6.85 per cent to close at N1.36 per share.
Transaction in the shares of Access Corporation topped the activities chart with 150.071 million shares worth N1.569 billion, Transnational Corporation which followed exchanged 134.253 million shares valued at N417.481 million, while AXA Mansard Insurance traded 41.863 million shares worth N100.895 million.
Wapic Insurance transacted 29.064 million shares valued at N12.871 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 20.084 million shares worth N111.072 million.