Trading resumes on bearish note
Trading activities resumed for the year on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on a bearish note with the All-Share Index dropping by 1.15 per cent. Reports have it that the index which opened at 31,430.50 shed 360.44 points or 1.15 per cent to close at 31,070.06 due to losses by some highly capitalised stocks.Also, the capitalisation lost N134 billion to close at N11.586 trillion compared with N11.720 trillion on Monday. Analysts had predicted that the stock market would continue to witness mixed performance till after the general elections.
Nestle topped the losers’ table with a loss of N10 to close at N1,479 per share. Nestle recorded the highest loss during the day, declining by N10.00 to close at N1,479 per share. Nigerian Breweries trailed with a loss of N7.20 to close at N78.30, while Dangote Cement was down by N3.70, closing at N186 per share. Flour Mills declined by 90k to close at N22.20, while Forte Oil dropped by 70k to close at N28 per share.
Conversely, Julius Berger led the gainers’ table, gaining N2 to close at N22.10 per share. International Breweries followed with a gain of N1 to close at N31.50, while Custodian and Allied Insurance garnered 45k to close at N6.10 per share. Vitafoam added 42k to close at N4.82, while Ecobank Transnational increased by 30k to close at N14.30 per share. NSE moves 121.26m shares worth N1.58bn in bearish trading.
Diamond Bank dominated trading with 50.66 million shares worth N111.99 million. Sovereign Insurance followed with 32.95 million shares valued at N6.66 million, while Access Bank traded 20.78 million shares worth N136.21 million. Zenith International Bank traded 17.96 million shares valued at N413.62 million, while FBN Holdings exchanged 11.28 million shares worth N88.63 million. In all, investors bought and sold 214.41 million shares valued at N1.56 billion transacted in 2,856 deals. This was in contrast with a turnover.