Bears hold sway as NGX cap declines by N71bn
MOTOLANI OSENI
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday extended its bearish trend as the overall market capitalisation value lost N71 billion to close at N22.494 trillion amid sustained profit-taking activity.
Also, the equities market All Share-Index (ASI) fell further by 136.25 per cent, representing a decrease of 0.32 per cent to close at 43,108.77 from 43,245.02 posted on Wednesday
Consequently, the month-todate and year-to-date returns moderated to 2.6 per cent and 7.1 per cent, respectively.
However, the market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Seplat Energy, Nigerian Breweries, MRS Oil Nigeria, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) and UAC of Nigeria (UACN).
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 24 stocks lost relative to 14 gainers.
Honeywell Flour Mills recorded the highest price gain of 9.76 per cent to close at N4.05, while AIICO Insurance followed with a gain of 8.47 per cent to close at 64 kobo, per share.
Regency Alliance Insurance up by 8.33 per cent to close at 39 kobo, while Ikeja Hotel and University Press appreciated by eight per cent each to close at N1.35 and N2.70 respectively, per share.
On the other hand, MRS Oil Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 9.87 per cent to close at N13.70, per share.
Chams followed with a decline of 8.70 per cent to close at 21 kobo, while ETI lost 8.57 per cent to close at N8.00, per share.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance declined 8.06 per cent to close at 57 kobo, while Unity Bank shed 7.27 per cent to close at 51 kobo, per share.
The total volume traded increased by 9.4 per cent to 266.115 million units, valued at N4.216 billion, and exchanged in 3,905 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Honeywell Flour Mills topped the activity chart with 52.467 million shares valued at N209.572 million.
Guaranty Trust Bank Holding Company (GTCO) followed with 22.958 million shares worth N578.562 million, while Zenith Bank traded 22.886 million shares valued at N559.038 million.
