Bearish Trend Continues As Equities Investors Lost N12bn

The bearish run in the Nigerian stock market continued yesterday as the All-Share Index dipped by N12 billion or 0.04 per cent.

The All Share Index (ASI) decreased by 23.25 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.04 per cent to close at 53,170.73 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation lost N12 billion to close at N28.665 trillion.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nigerian Breweries, Zenith Bank, C&I Leasing, Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nigeria (Glaxosmith) and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO).
On market outlook, analysts at GTI Securities Limited said: “trading activities for today closed negative, as investors continue to take profit. We expect cautious trading and profit taking to continue tomorrow.”
Market breadth closed negative, with 17 losers versus 15 gainers. University Press recorded the highest price gain of 9.43 per cent, to close at N2.90, per share. Cornerstone Insurance followed with a gain 8.93 per cent to close at 61 kobo, while Ellah Lakes appreciated by 7.89 per cent to close at N3.69, per share.

International Breweries went up by 4.23 per cent to close at N7.40, while Regency Alliance Insurance appreciated by 3.70 per cent to close at 28 kobo, per share.
On the other hand, C&I Leasing led the losers’ chart by 8.57 per cent, to close at N3.20, per share. FTN Cocoa processors followed with a decline of 8.33 per cent to close at 33 kobo, while Ikeja Hotel went down by 3.23 to close at N1.20, per share.
Glaxosmith lost 2.74 per cent to close at N7.10, while Zenith Bank shed 2.35 per cent to close at N22.85, per share.

However, the total volume traded rose 27.90 per cent to 318.418 million shares, worth N3.339 billion, and traded in 4,345 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) topped the activity chart with 165.206 million shares valued at N225.901 million. Guaranty Trust Holding Company followed with 22.222 million shares worth N493.111 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 19.099 million shares valued at N148.609 million.
FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 13.344 million shares valued at N135.153 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 12.576 million shares worth N290.713 million.