Local Stock Market Sheds N18bn

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) Limited recorded a 0.07% fall at the end of trading on Monday on the back of depreciation in banking equities.

The banking sector fell by 0.13 per cent and this overshadowed the gains printed by the other sectors.

The energy counter appreciated by 0.10 per cent, the insurance space grew by 0.08 per cent, while the consumer goods and the industrial goods sectors closed flat.

At the close of trades, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 34.06 points to 49,642.69 points from 49,676.75 points, while the market capitalisation declined by N18 billion to N26.776 trillion from N26.794 trillion.

The market was relatively quiet yesterday as only 126.0 million stocks worth N3.1 billion were traded in 4,145 deals in contrast to the 232.9 million stocks valued at N2.2 billion transacted in 4,425 deals on Monday.

This implied that the volume of trades depreciated by 45.93 per cent, the number of deals went down by 6.33 per cent, and the value of transactions improved by 40.57 per cent.

Mutual Benefits was the busiest stock during the session as it traded 25.3 million units valued at N8.2 million and was trailed by Fidelity Bank, which sold 10.2 million units for N31.1 million.

Access Holdings transacted 9.0 million equities worth N73.7 million, FBN Holdings traded 7.7 million shares valued at N84.3 million, while MTN Nigeria sold 7.3 million stocks for N1.5 billion.

The market breadth was flat yesterday as there were 13 price gainers and losers at the close of transactions.

Courteville recorded the highest fall, 7.69 per cent, to close at 48 Kobo, with FCMB losing 4.06 per cent to trade at N3.07. UPDC depreciated by 3.77 per cent to N1.02, NAHCO dropped 3.72 per cent to finish at N5.70, while Cadbury Nigeria retreated by 2.99 per cent to N13.00.

The highest price gainer was eTranzact as its value rose by 9.65 per cent to N2.50, Sovereign Trust Insurance improved by 7.69 per cent to 28 Kobo, Vitafoam appreciated by 7.27 per cent to N23.60, Japaul advanced by 6.45 per cent to 33 Kobo, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance gained 4.84 per cent to sell for 65 Kobo.