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Market halts gaining streak, as index dips 0.83 per cent

By Helen Oji
22 January 2020   |   3:47 am
Following price losses suffered by some bellwethers, the Nigerian equities market halted three days gaining streak yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI)

Following price losses suffered by some bellwethers, the Nigerian equities market halted three days gaining streak yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated 0.83 per cent.

Specifically, at the close transactions Tuesday, ASI fell by 247.80 points or 0.83 per cent to 29,462.76 points.

Accordingly, investors lost N128 billion in value as market capitalisation dipped to N15.176 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and high-value stocks, amongst which were; Dangote Cement, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, BUA Cement, and Zenith Bank.

Experts attributed the decline to profit-taking, mostly on bellwether stocks. Analysts at Afrinvest Limited, said: “We expect performance in the market to remain mixed in the near term. However, there are still opportunities for bargain-hunting.”

Market breadth closed slight negative, with 15 gainers versus 16 losers. Law Union and Rock Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 9.09 per cent to close at 60 kobo per share.

Unity Bank followed with 6.15 per cent to close at 69 kobo, and Lafarge Africa appreciated 6.12 per cent to close at N17.35, per share.

Honeywell Flour Mills rose 4.85 per cent to close at N1.08, while Courteville Business Solutions garnered 4.35 per cent to close at 24 kobo, per share.

On the other hand, Arbico Plc led the losers’ chart with 9.97 per cent to close at N3.16 per share. Eterna followed with 9.72 per cent to close at N3.25, and Champion Breweries 7.14 to close at 91 kobo, per share.

Access Bank lost 6.51 per cent to close at N10.05, and Guaranty Trust Bank shed 5.29 per cent to close at N32.20, per share.

However, the total volume traded rose 2.2 per cent to 272.84 million shares worth N3.71 billion, traded in 4,945 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 57.81 million shares valued at N1.31 billion. Access Bank followed with 33 million shares worth N340.75 million.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 22.43 million shares at N193.72 million.

Oando traded 18.21 million shares valued at N65.59 million, and FCMB Groups transacted 16.24 million shares worth N32.33 million.

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