Equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) opened the week bearish as profit-taking activities in MTN Nigeria Communication undermined market performance having dipped in share value by 5.5 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) dipped by 0.73 per cent to 103,659.81 basis points, with the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns moderating to +2.5 per cent and +38.6 per cent, respectively.
Equities investors therefore lost N436.97 billion from their cumulative investments as the market capitalization settled at N56.72 trillion by the end of the day’s trading activities.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative, as 27 tickers lost relative to 26 gainers. On the performance board, Abbey Mortgage Bank and Livestock Feeds recorded the most significant losses of the day having dipped in share prices by 9.7 per cent respectively, while Meyer and Daar Communication topped the gainers’ list after their share prices appreciated by 10 per cent, respectively.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Insurance index advanced by 2.7 per cent, while the banking index declined by 2.3 per cent. Meanwhile, the Consumer Goods, Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices closed flat.
Analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 17.67 per cent.
A total of 841.55 billion shares valued at N19.33 billion were exchanged in 13,674 deals. First Bank of Nigeria Holdings led both the volume and value chart with 332.30 million units traded in deals worth N8.95 billion.
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