Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday witnessed considerable drop in share prices as bears overwhelmed bulls following profit taking by investors.
Market breadth closed negative as Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc led 15 gainers as against 16 losers topped by Arbico Plc at the end of the trading session.
Consequently, the All-Share Index dipped 247.8 basis points or 0.83 per cent to close at 29,462.76 index points as against 29.710.56 recorded the previous trading session while market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N127 billion from N15.303 trillion the previous day to N15.176 trillion as market sentiment remained on the negative territory.
Meanwhile, a turnover of 272.8 million shares exchanged in 4,945 deals was recorded in the day’s trading.
The premium sub-sector was the most active (measured by turnover volume); with 138.4 million shares exchanged by investors in 2,487 deals.
Volume in the sub-sector was largely driven by activities in the shares of Zenith Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc.
Also, the banking sub-sector boosted by the activities in the shares of Fidelity Bank Plc and GTBank Plc followed with a turnover of 31.4 million shares in 581 deals.
Further analysis of the day’s trading showed that in percentage terms Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc topped the day’s gainers’ table with 9.09 per cent to close at 60 kobo per share while Unity Bank Plc followed with 6.15 per cent to close at 69 kobo per share. Wapco Plc added 6.12 per cent to close at N17.35 per share.
On the flip side, Arbico Nigeria Plc led the losers with a drop of 9.97 per cent to close at N3.16 per share while Eterna Oil Plc shed 9.72 per cent to close at N3.25 per share. Champion Breweries Plc trailed with 7.14 per cent to close at 91 kobo per share.
