Equity market loses N1.6tn in six days

The Nigerian Stock Exchange extended its bearish trend to the sixth consecutive trading session, losing N1.6tn during this period.

The All Share Index fell by 1.36 per cent, closing at 95,781.68 points, down from the previous close of 97,100.31 points and the market capitalisation shed N750bn at N54.40tn on Monday.

The decline brought the year-to-date return to 28.50 per cent, the month-to-date to -2.05 per cent, and the week-to-date to -1.36 per cent.

A total of 3,546,022,683 units of shares were traded in 9,291 deals, with a combined value of N7.649bn, representing a 16 per cent increase in volume, a 2 per cent increase in turnover, and a 21 per cent increase in the number of deals compared to the previous trading day.

The market breadth closed positive, with 31 equities gaining and 18 equities declining.

The main contributor to the drop in the ASI was a 10 per cent loss in the price of Dangote Cement to close at N532.

Among the top gainers were Cutix, Skyway Aviation Handling Co., and RT Briscoe, with a 10 per cent gain to close at N2,64, N26.40, and N1.87, respectively.

Oando saw a 9.90 per cent increase to N39.40 and FTN Cocoa Processors and Tantalizer rose by 9.57 per cent and 9.09 per cent, respectively.

Other losers included Secure Electronic Technology, down 9.76 per cent to N0.37, and Africa Prudential, which fell by 9.68 per cent to N8.40.

Guaranty Trust Holding topped the trading volume charts with 59.3 million shares exchanged, followed by Wema Bank with 25.4 million shares, Access Holdings with 24.7 million shares, and United Bank for Africa with 23.4 million shares.

The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian equity market extended its downtrend to the second consecutive week, losing N847.03bn, due to sell-offs.

The All-Share Index and market capitalisation declined by 1.51 per cent, closing last week at 97,100.31 points and N55.13tn, respectively.