Bears shrink market index further by 1.3 per cent

The bears strengthen their hold on the equity sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as more bluechip stocks join the league of losers, as the All-share index plunged further by 1.3 per cent.

Specifically, at the close of transaction yesterday, the All-share Index (ASI) depreciated by 411.92 absolute points, representing a decrease of 1.33 per cent, closing at 30,611.55 points. Similarly, market capitalisation shed N150 billion to close at N11.176 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded the bellwethers, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, Guaranty Trust Bank, Cadbury Nigeria, United Bank for Africa (UBA), and FBN Holdings.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “Although, we observed a bearish performance since the beginning of the week, we expect an uptick in market performance today’s trading session as investors seek to increase buying interests in fundamentally justified stocks, which have declined in value. However, we do not expect the uptick to nullify the overall negative performance of the local bourse.”

Market breadth remained negative, with 23 gainers and 12 losers. Veritas Kapital Assurance recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at 22kobo per share. Ikeja Hotel followed with a gain of 9.80 per cent to close at N1.68, while Mutual Benefit Assurance rose 8.70 per cent to close at 25 kobo per share.

Access Bank gained 7.14 per cent to close at N7.50, while Continental Reinsurance rose 6.95 per cent to close at N2 per share.
On the other hand, Associated Bus Company (ABCTrans) led the losers’ chart by. 9.68 per cent to close at 28 kobo, while Diamond Bank followed with 9.59 per cent to close at 66 kobo per share.

John Holt and Jaiz Bank declined by 9.09 per cent each, to close at 40 kobo respectively, while Livestock Feeds down by 8.77 per cent to close at 52 kobo per share.

However, total volume of trade grew by 100.4 per cent to 441.61 million shares, valued at N4.46 billion, exchanged in 3,648 deals. Universal Insurance traded 150.1 million shares valued at N30.01 million. Access Bank followed with 73.57 million shares worth N503.01 million, while Stanbic IBTC Holdings traded 43.91 million shares valued at N2.2 billion.

Diamond Bank traded 41.31 million shares valued at N27.51 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 22.29 million shares worth N515.23 million.