Activities at the Nigerian Equities Market started on a bearish note with the benchmark index dropping by 0.09 per cent to settle at 43,270.94 basis points.
On Monday, the market sentiment on was largely due to a negative outing by Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and Zenith Bank, thus pushing the equities market lower.
This led to investors losing N19 billion in the session as the equities market capitalization of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) was pegged at N22.579 trillion.
This outing brought the month-to-date and year-to-date outings of the All-Share Index to stand at 2.93 per cent and 7.45 per cent respectively.
Market breadth closed in favour of the bears with 21 counters in the losers’ chart pitted against 14 counters in the gainers’ chart.
AIICO Insurance was the best performing stock in the session, as it is flanked by LivingTrust, Veritas Kapital, ABC Transport and Courtville to complete the list of the top five gainers.
From the rear of the chart, UPDC sheds the most weight to lead the laggards’ chart as it is flanked by UPDCREIT, CHI PLC, Regal Insurance and International Breweries to complete the top losers’ chart.
Most sectoral indices closed in the same direction with the ASI, save for NGX Insurance and NGX Growth sectors that gained 0.82 in per cent and 5.25 per cent respectively, while NGX Industry and NGX ASEM closed flat.
Market activity as measured by both volume and value of shaded gained weight in the session with daily traded volume standing at 213 million units, representing a 30.20 per cent decrease from a volume of 305 million units traded in the previous session.
The value of traded stocks dipped by 34.05 per cent in the session to stand at N2.360 billion as against a value of N3.578 billion recorded in the previous trading session.
FCMB dominated the volume charts as the top traded stock by volume for the trading session. This is followed by AIICO Insurance, Zenith Bank, GTCO and Access to complete the list of the five most traded stocks by volume.
On the value of traded stocks, Airtel Africa led out of the top five performers. It is flanked by GTCO, Zenith Bank, FCMB and lastly Access.
