Equities Market Sheds Marginally By 0.01%

The Nigerian equities market swayed marginally into a negative stance by 0.01 per cent.

In summary, the ASI shed 3.58 absolute points or 0.01 per cent to close at 37,988.54 points. Also, the market capitalisation declined by N2 billion to close at N13.761 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; International Breweries, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), Mobil Nigeria, Zenith Bank and Africa Prudential.

Analysts at APT Securities and Funds Limited noted that “gains in the market reversed to the red zone. Nevertheless, as the lost is very minimal compared to prior performance, we expect positive results to recoup the losses.”

Market breadth closed negative, with 22 gainers versus 23 losers. NEM Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 9.87 per cent, to close at N3.34 per share. FCMB Groups followed with a gain of nine per cent to close at N2.30, while Fidelity Bank appreciated  by 4.95 per cent to close at N2.33 per share.

Oando rose by 4.72 per cent  to close at N6.65, while Jaiz Bank gained 4.69 per cent to close at 67 kobo per share.

On the other hand, Japaul Oil  led the losers’ chart by 8.89 per cent, to close at 41 kobo per share. International Breweries shed 6.14 per cent to close at N41.30, while UPL depreciated by 4.98 per cent to close at N2.29 per share.

Africa Prudential declined by 4.94 per cent to close at N3.85 and CI Leasing also shed 4.93 per cent to close at  N1.93 per share.

However, the total volume traded appreciated by 160.2 per cent to 539.77 million shares, worth N4.71 billion, and traded in 4,202 deals. Transactions in the shares of Union Bank topped the activity chart with 281.55 billion shares valued at N1.55 billion. Fidelity Bank followed with 61.92 million shares worth N142.43 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp)  traded 26.71 million shares valued at N36.73 million.

FBN Holdings traded 24.39 million shares valued at N262.34 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 20.23 million shares worth N518.5 million.