Equity market opens week bearish, sheds N622bn

The nation’s domestic equity on Monday closed bearish, shedding N622 billion following loses recorded by Airtel Africa and other highly capitalised stocks.

Market capitalisation of listed equities declined by 2.08 per cent to N29.281 trillion from N29.903 trillion reported on Friday

The NGX All Share Index also dropped by 1141.76 basis points to 53750.77 points from 54892.53 traded the previous day.

An analysis of the investment showed that Courtvellle Business Solutions led gainers table during the day, appreciating by 6.67 per cent to close at N0.48 per unit, NPF Micro Finance Bank followed with a gain of 2.70 per cent to close at N1.90 per share, AIICO Insurance added 1.75 per cent to close at N0.58 per unit, FBNHoldings increased by 0.92 per cent to close at N11.00 while Zenith Bank traded 0.20 per cent to close at N25.00.

On the contrary, NCR topped losers chart during the day in percentage terms, shedding 9.79 per cent to close at N2.12 per unit, Unity Bank trailed with a drop of 9.79 per cent to close at N0.48 per share, Prestige insurance down by 8.89 per cent to close at N0.41 per unit, SUNU Assurance dipped by 8.33 per cent to N0.44 per share, Airtel Africa went down by 8.31 per cent to close at N1420.00.

Volume of trades for the day declined by 38.678 million , representing 27.71 per cent as investors traded 100.882 million shares valued at N4.342 billion in 3279 deals against 139.560 million shares worth N3.873 billion in 2912 deals.