Sell pressure on oil, gas stocks dips Nigeria equities index further to 38,152 points
Adesola Afolabi was a businessamlive reporter and Head of Financial desk.
Nigeria equities benchmark index, the NSEASI, dropped for the fifth consecutive session by 1.17 percent to 38,152.60 points Thursday, as investors embarked on a 
flurry of sell-offs of oil & gas stocks.
Consequently, market capitalisation shed N367.5 billion to close N13.8 trillion in the longest bearish trend this month.
To this end, market year-to-date gain turned negative at -0.24 percent, while the month-to-date gain moderated to 0.13 percent.
The oil & gas index remained the top loser, as investors continued to book profit in SEPLAT (-4.49%) shares. The banking and industrial goods indices closed lower by 0.54 percent apiece, owing to profit taking in the shares of GUARANTY (-1.48%) and DANGCEM (-3.64%) respectively.
On the flip side, the insurance (+1.54%) and consumer goods (+0.47%) indices closed positive, following gains in CUSTODIAN (+4.99%) and NB (+2.75%) stocks.
Market breadth was negative with 26 losers and 24 gainers led by HONYFLOUR (-5.00%) and JAPAULOIL (+9.30%) respectively. Total volume and value of trades grew by 1.36 percent and 7.16 percent to 271.40 million units and NGN4.10 billion respectively in 3,766 deals.
Analysts at Cordros Capital are of the view that despite persisting losses, there exist legroom for gains at the market amid supportive macroeconomic fundamentals.