After staging a comeback last Friday, the bulls were unable to sustain their grip yesterday as the bears took control, sending major market indicators southward.
At the close of trading yesterday, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index or ASR depreciated by 0.32 per cent or 134.28 points to close at 41,398.05 points from 41,532.31 points attained last Friday.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation of listed equities decreased to N13.66 trillion from N13.65 trillion the previous trading day.
Similarly, trading activities on the stock exchange decreased by 38 per cent as investors bought 222.43 million shares worth N2.27 billion executed in 4,455 deals, compared to 355.92 million shares worth N6.13 billon, in 4,587 deals exchanged last Friday.
Access Plc, EternaPlc and Diamond Bank Plc were the most actively traded stocks on the exchange yesterday in terms of volume, while Access Bank Plc and Dangote Cement Plc, topped in terms of value.
The banking sector of the financial service sector remained the most active in terms of the volume of shares traded. It led the equities sector with a turnover of 98.80million shares valued at N907.4 million made in 1,543 deals.
The volume of shares sold in the banking sector was largely driven by the activity in the shares of Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc. Trading on the shares of the four banks accounted for 75.8 million shares or 76.7 per cent of the subsectors’ turnover.
A total number of 25 stocks gained on the bourse yesterday while 30 stocks declined leaving 57 stocks unchanged. TranscorpPlc emerged the toast of investors as it appreciated by 5.41 per cent to close at N6.43, followed by Custodian & Allied Plc with a 2.04 per cent gain to close at N4.00. Others on the gainers chart include; CCNN Plc, NahcoPlc and FBN Holdings Plc.
UBA Plc topped the losers chart with a 3.95 per cent decline to close at N7.30, followed by WapicPlc which declined by 3.80 per cent to close at 76 kobo. Others on the losers table include; Guinness Nigeria Plc, OandoPlc and Livestock Feeds Plc.
[This Day]