Following price loss incurred by most blue-chip stocks, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) reversed the three days gaining streak to close on a downturn yesterday, as the All-Share Index declined by 0.4 per cent.
Specifically, at the close of transactions yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) shed 108.32 points or 0.39 per cent to 27,691.85 points.
Accordingly, investors lost N52 billion in value as market capitalisation went down to N13.472 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, among which are: Seplat Forte Oil, Julius Berger, International Breweries and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria.
Analysts at Afrinvest Limited expected the bearish performance to continue, as investor sentiment remains weak.
Also, analysts at Imperial Asset Managers Limited expected bargain hunting on stocks that have witnessed significant price deceleration to be prominent this week, “but we do not rule out the possibility of profit-taking considering current investors’ weak confidence on the market.”
Market breadth closed negative, as 19 stocks posted gains while 21 stocks posted declines.
Associated Bus Company and Sovereign Trust Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent, each to close at 33 kobo and 22 kobos, respectively, while John Holt followed with a gain 8.70 per cent to close at 50 kobo, per share.
NPF Microfinance Bank went up by 8.62 per cent to close at N1.26, while Triple Gee and Company appreciated by 7.94 per cent to close at 68 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Forte Oil and Seplat led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, each to close at N14.40 and N441, respectively, while Julius Berger followed with a decline of 9.95 per cent to close at N18.55, per share.
Champion Breweries lost 9.47 per cent to close at N1.53, while Courteville Business Solutions shed 9.09 per cent to close at 20 kobo, per share.
The total volume traded declined by 53.4 per cent to 158.268 million shares, worth N2.3 billion, and traded in 3,595 deals. Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) topped the activity chart with 31.76 million shares valued at N41.87 million.
Zenith Bank followed with 18.65 million shares worth N587.11 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 17.85 million shares valued at N205.2 million.
FBN Holdings traded 14.07 million shares valued at N181.27 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank transacted 13.45 million shares worth N824.07 million.
