By Cynthia Ezekwe.
Over N27.80 billion was lost in the Nigerian stock market on Wednesday as market capitalisation declined by 0.07 per cent to N36.36 trillion, from N36.39 trillion.
The All Share Index (ASI) recorded a steep drop of 50.81 basis points from 66,490.34 ASI to 66,439.53 ASI.
During trading on Wednesday, over N3.91 billion was traded in 10,033 deals, for 637.19 million shares, contrasting with the N7.01 billion exchanged for 356.01 million shares in 7,932 deals on Tuesday.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance led the gainers table as its share price appreciated by N0.10 kobo to rise from N1 to N1.10 kobo per share; Capital Hotel grew by N0.25 kobo, up from N2.50 kobo to N2.75 kobo per share; UPL ended trading with N2.36 kobo from N2.15 kobo per share, rising by N0.21 kobo; Champion gained N0.31 kobo to end trading at N3.50 kobo, having opened with N3.19 kobo per share; while Thomas Wyatt’s share was up by N0.19 kobo, closing at N2.17 kobo from N1.98 kobo per share.
On the contrary, Transcorp led the losers chart as its share price depreciated by N0.70 kobo, dwindling from N7.01 to N6.31 kobo per share;   CWG declined by N0.40 kobo to end trading at N3.65 kobo, after opening at N4.05 per share; Ikeja Hotel followed the same path, losing N0.31 kobo after trading hours, to sell at N2.84 kobo from N3.15 kobo per share; FTN Cocoa reported a decline of N0.18 kobo from the previous day’s share price of N2.22 kobo to end trading at N2.04 per share; whileRT Briscoe’s share depreciated to N0.42 kobo from N0.45 kobo, after losing 6.67 per cent during trading hours.
The top five trading equities in the stock exchange on Wednesday were Transcorp, Access Corporation, Dangote Sugar, Jaiz Bank, and Fidelity Bank.
Transcorp reported that 292.40 million shares, valued at N2.14 billion, were traded on its floor; Access Corporation recorded 26.65 million shares valued at N435.49 million;  Dangote Sugar saw investors trade 24.45 million shares valued at N1.45 billion; Jaiz Bank recorded 18.66 million shares exchanged on its floor, worth N27.72 million; while  Fidelity Bank reported 17.38 million shares, valued at N122.28 million, exchanged investors’ hands.
