By Dipo Olowookere
The free-fall of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depleted the All-Share Index (ASI) below 100,000 points on Wednesday after it closed lower by 0.80 per cent.
The midweek loss was mainly caused by selling pressure in the consumer goods sector, which outweighed the buying pressure witnessed in the financial services counter.
Data showed that the consumer goods space lost 0.05 per cent, while the banking and the insurance sectors appreciated by 1.10 per cent and 0.58 per cent, respectively, with the energy and industrial goods counters closing flat each.
Consequently, the ASI went down by 807.67 points to 99,909.54 points from 100,717.21 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N457 billion to N56.505 trillion from N56.962 trillion.
Investor sentiment was still weak, according to data obtained by Business Post from the bourse, as the exchange ended with 27 depreciating equities and 17 appreciating equities.
Livestock Feeds was the worst-performing stock as it shed 10.00 per cent to trade at N1.44, CWG declined by 9.79 per cent to N6.45, International Energy Insurance weakened by 9.79 per cent to N1.29, FTN Cocoa lost 9.72 per cent to quote at N1.30, and Africa Prudential slipped by 9.42 per cent to N6.25.
However, the best-performing stock was Ikeja Hotel, which gained 10.00 per cent to close at N7.26, Fidelity Bank appreciated by 9.88 per cent to N8.90, Academy Press improved by 9.77 per cent to N1.91, Morison Industries expanded by 9.71 per cent to N3.39, and Prestige Assurance advanced by 9.26 per cent to 59 Kobo.
It was a relatively quiet market today as the activity level was low due to the low appetite of traders for Nigerian stocks, which recorded losses for the consecutive 15 trading sessions.
Data showed that 322.7 million shares valued at N5.8 billion in 9,074 deals compared with the 403.9 million shares valued at N8.4 billion transacted in 10,170 deals in the preceding day.
This implied that the volume of transactions went down by 20.10 per cent, the value of trades declined by 30.95 per cent, and the number of deals decreased by 10.78 per cent.
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