The negative sentiments continued in the local equity market as the All-Share Index (ASI) dipped by 0.43 per cent to settle at 103736.08 points from 104,181.32 points reported the previous day.
Market capitalisation of listed equities also declined by N252 billion to close at N58.653 trillion from N58.905 trillion it closed on Wednesday.
Sell-offs in the shares of GTCO, Zenith Bank, FBNH Holdings, UBA , AccessCorp outweighed gains in the shares of Dangote Sugar, ETI, Nahco, FCMB, May and Baker at close of transactions yesterday.
As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return fell to 38.73 per cent, while the NGX printed 23 gainers against 26 losers.
Analysis of yesterday’s trading showed that trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous day with the value of transactions increasing by 75.56 per cent.
Specifically, volume of trades increased by 82.602 million representing 20.38 per cent as investors traded 487.728 million shares valued at N15.639 billion in 8908 deals against 405.126 million shares costing N8.908 billion exchanged hands the previous day in 10364 deals.
The trading result showed that Morison industry led gainers table with 9.84 per cent to close at N2.12 per share, SCOA followed with a gain of 9.77 per cent to close at N2.36 per unit. International General Insurance gained 9.72 per cent to close at N1.58 per share; NEM Insurance added 9.50 per cent to close at N9.80 per unit, TIPs increased by 8.70 per cent to close at N2.50 per share.
On the contrary, C& I Leasing recorded the highest loss during the day with 9.79 per cent to close at N3.50 per unit, Mutual Benefits trailed with a loss of 8.57 per cent to close at N0.64 per unit, Tantalizer down by 7.89 per cent to close at N0.35 per unit. Unity Bank dropped by 7.39 per cent to close at N2.13 per share, Jaiz Bank dipped by 7.23 per cent to close at N2.18 per share.
However, Zenith Bank led market activities with 161.683 million shares valued at N7.027 billion, GTCO Plc followed with account of 54.355 million shares worth N2.729 billion, United Bank for Africa exchanged 47.832 million shares cost N1.299 billion, AccessCorp traded 40.881 million shares worth N950.436 million while Transcorps sold a total of 28.350 million shares worth N387.009 deals.
