Nigerian bourse on Thursday closed near flat as the All Share Index dropped slightly by 0.01% to 24,276.56 index points. Consequently, YTD performance presently stands at -9.46%.
Activity level reversed its previous increase as total volumes and values exchanged declined by 19.76% and 49.05% to 186.64 million units and 2.393 billion respectively. Fidelity Bank was the most traded stock by volume at 38.0 million units while GUARANTY finished the most traded stock by value at N534.4 million.
Market sentiment, as measured by market breadth, was negative as 15 stocks declined, relative to 10 advancers with CONOIL and ARBICO as top losers by 10.00% and 9.52% respectively, while STERLNBANK and PZ recorded largest price gains with 5.83% and 3.57% respectively.
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Across sectors, three of the five indexes under our coverage gained. Price appreciation in LAW UNION and AIICO INSURANCE moved the Insurance index up by 0.64%, while the Banking and industrial followed to gain 0.60% and 0.02% respectively.
Conversely, the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indexes were down 0.64% and 0.45% respectively, on the back of sell-offs in INTBREW, DANGSUGAR and CONOIL.
Top gainers
LAWUNION up 7.00% to close at N1.07,PZ up 3.57% to close at N4.35,ETI up 3.26% to close at N4.75,GUARANTY up 1.11% to close at N22.75ZENITHBANK up 0.60% to close at N16.75,
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Top Losers
CONOIL down 10.00% to close at N18.9, ARBICO down 9.52% to close at N1.71, VITAFOAM down 9.30% to close at N5.07, INTBREW down 8.86% to close at N3.6, DANGSUGAR down 0.86% to close at N11.5
Outlook
Nigerian bourse finished on a near stalemate, as buying pressure from top tier-1 banks countered the high sell-offs recorded in CONOIL, VITAFOAM & INTBREW.
However, Nairmetrics envisages you seek the advice of a certified financial advisor when buying financial assets.