Bourse begins year with N88.7bn loss

Nigeria’s stock market started the year 2017 on a low note, posting a loss of N88.7 billion on the first trading day of the year.

This is in contrast to the positive momentum recorded in the last trading days of last week that ended the year 2016.

After closing on 0.34 percent higher last Friday, the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index (NSE ASI) posted a decline of 0.96 percent on Tuesday with equity market traders closing the day on a pessimistic note as ASI settled at 26,616.89 points.

Cement Company of Northern Nigeria recorded the biggest loss for the day in percentage terms as it led 18 other declining stocks with a depreciation of 5 percent to close at N4.75 per share. Shares of Eco Transnational International (ETI) and Cadbury were next with a decline of 4.96 percent each to close at N9.77 and N9.78 per share respectively.

Oando followed with a loss of 4.89 percent to close at N4.47 per share while AIICO Insurance closed at 60 kobo per share after depreciating 4.76 percent in the course of the day’s transactions.

The overall value of the market represented by the market capitalization, shrunk by N88.7 billion from N9.246 trillion to N9.158 trillion.

UAC- Property led the day’s gainers with 4.96 percent to close at N2.75 per share, Stanbic followed with a growth of 4.95 percent to close at N15.69 per share, while WAPIC Insurance added 4 percent to close at 52 kobo per share. Fidson Healthcare added 3.91 percent to close at N1.33 per share while Unity Bank appreciated 3.64 percent to close at 57 kobo per share.

The day’s transactions executed in 2033 deals, showed investors moved 3.4 billion units of shares, worth N3.8 billion.

Top three most traded stocks were Unity Kapital Assurance with 3.072 billion units of shares valued at N2.365 billion. Omoluabi Savings Bank followed with 190 million shares valued at N159.6 million while Guaranty Trust Bank traded 28.6 million shares worth N687.1 million.