Investors lose N376bn as ASI falls by 0.52%

BY TEMITOPE ADEBAYO

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) opened the week on a negative note, shedding 0.52 per cent to close at 114,017.48 points, while the market capitalisation dipped by N376 billion to settle at N71.89 trillion.

This downturn dragged the year-to-date return to 10.78 per cent.

The decline was driven by losses in heavyweights such as ARADEL (-9.09%), ACCESSCORP (-4.74%), MTNN (-2.88%) and ZENITHBANK (-0.89%), which outweighed gains in GTCO (+1.64%), UBA (+1.94%), HONEYFLOUR (+5.37%) and FIDELITYBK (+2.60%).

Market activity was mixed, with total volume traded falling by 55.36 per cent, while trade value rose by 13.16 per cent.

The number of deals surged by 46.12 per cent. ACCESSCORP led the volume chart with 88.3 million shares traded, while GTCO led in value terms with trades worth N3.34 billion.

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Despite the negative close, market breadth ended positive at 1.36:1, as more stocks posted gains than losses. BERGER topped the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent increase, while RTBRISCOE led the losers with a 10 per cent decline.

On the NASD OTC Securities Exchange, the market recorded a marginal gain as the NASD Securities Index (NSI) rose by 0.28 per cent to 3,267.8 points, pushing market capitalisation to N1.96 trillion.

However, trading activity waned, with volume down by 58.13 per cent to 248,882 units and transaction value declining by 67.24 per cent to N9.81 million. The number of executed deals also fell by 46.43 per cent to 30, indicating that a few trades accounted for the session’s gains.