After returning from the national holidays, the stock market declared that the 62nd anniversary of Nigeria’s independence would be celebrated on a bearish note because losses suffered by blue-chip stocks, particularly International Breweries and Redstar Express, had reduced the capitalization by N71 billion.
Following yesterday’s trading on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), the market value of listed stocks fell by 0.3% to N26.38 trillion from N26.45 trillion recorded the day before.
Similar to this, the all-share index (ASI) lost 144.64 basis points, falling from 49024.16 points traded the day before to 48879.74 points.
In comparison to the 356.73 million shares that were traded for N3.74 billion the day before in 4219 deals, investors traded 173.46 million shares worth N2.39 billion in 4926 deals.
Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “We expect another mixed day of trading tomorrow, amid bargain hunting activities across the board as investors continue to tread cautiously in the market.”
Losses in medium and large capitalized stocks, including Vitafoam, United Capital, Zenith Bank, International Breweries, Access Corp, and FBN Holdings, had an impact on the decline.
International Breweries led the losers’ chart on the price movement chart, sliding by 9.09% to close at N4.50 kobo, while Redstarex following with a loss of 7.83% to close at N2.12 kobo.
Sovereign Insurance decreased 7.41% to finish at 25 kobo. Japaul Gold lost 7.14% of its value to close at 26 kobo. Chi Plc lost 7.02 percent to end the day at 53. Kobo.
To settle at N10.40 kobo, United Capital lost 6.73 percent of its value. Access Corp lost 5.59% of its value to end the day at N7.60 kobo. To settle at N1.04 kobo, TransNational Corporation had a 5.45% decrease. To close at N3.50 kobo, Fidelity Bank saw a 4.89 percent loss. Additionally down 4.53 percent to close at N20 was Vitafoam.
While RTBriscoe came in second with a gain of 8.82% to close at 37 kobo, Multiverse Plc took the lead on the gainers list with an increase of 7.76% to close at N4.05 kobo. NGX Group increased 7.5% to conclude at N21.50 kobo, and AIICO Insurance increased 5.77% to finish at 55 kobo. The closing price of the Africa Prudential Register was N5.20 kobo, up 4%.
Union Bank increased 3.23% to finish at N6.40 kobo. To close at 36 kobo, Wapic Insurance had a 2.86 percent increase. 2.33 percent was added to Unity Bank, which closed at 44 kobo. Additionally, NPF Microfinance Bank gained 1.97 percent to end the day at N1.55 kobo.
The most actively traded stock during the day was GTCO Plc, which exchanged 71.19 million shares worth N1.26 billion in 687 deals, Zenith Bank came in second with an account of 14.39 million shares costing N283.58 million in 432 deals, United Bank for Africa sold a total of 10.67 million shares worth N73.29 million in 296 deals, NGX Group exchanged 8.35 million shares worth N173.92 million in 91 deals, and Chams Plc traded 6.78.
