24 stocks decline as All Share Index falls 0.12%

By Adesola Afolabi

A  decline in the share prices of 24 stocks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded on Monday, led to a dip in the All Share Index (ASI).

The ASI closed 0.12 percent lower than its opening figures and closed at 40,763.93 points, bringing the year to date returns to 6.60 percent

The Market Capitalization which tracks the growth of the equities market depreciated by N18.4 billion or 0.12 percent to close the day at N14.725 trillion while three of the five major equities market indices closed in red following sell-offs in key stocks.

The Insurance index lost 0.45 percent as Continental Re-insurance and Afrinsurance fell 5.14 percent and 4.35 percent respectively. The industrial index dropped 2.72 percent as Dangote Cement shed 0.60 percent while the Banking Index dipped following sell-offs top-tier banks. On the other hand, the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices appreciated 0.26 percent and 0.56 percent respectively as investors interest spark price appreciation in Honeywell Flour Mills(+4.71%)and Forte Oil(+4.94%).

Top three traded stocks by volume were Law Union and Rocks, Zenith Bank and FBN Holdings. They traded 220.7 million shares, 76.7 million shares and 24.3 million shares worth N253.8 million, N2.1billion and N318.7 million respectively

In all, investors traded a total of 530.2 million shares worth N7.8 billion and exchanged in 4,567 deals.