The bears consolidated their grip on Nigeria’s stock market by 0.09 per cent on Wednesday due to sustained selling pressure amid global instability.
Yesterday, only two of the five sectors tracked by Business Post ended in green, with the industrial goods up by 1.42 per cent, and the banking sector gained 0.04 per cent.
However, the insurance counter depleted by 0.44 per cent, the consumer goods index lost 0.43 per cent, and the energy industry shed 0.06 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) deflated by 167.58 points to 195,898.53 points from 196,066.11 points, and the market capitalisation shrank by N108 billion to N125.750 trillion from N125.858 trillion.
The laggards’ group was led by Presco, which decreased by 10.00 per cent to N2,083.90. UAC Nigeria lost 9.97 per cent to trade at N104.25, Morison Industries crashed by 9.94 per cent to N10.87, SCOA Nigeria gave up 9.86 per cent to quote at N25.15, and Linkage Assurance slipped by 9.83 per cent to N1.56.
On the flip side, NGX Group gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N186.45, Premier Paints expanded by 9.92 per cent to N19.40, Omatek surged by 8.95 per cent to N2.80, Prestige Assurance advanced by 8.39 per cent to N1.68, and Haldane McCall chalked up 6.67 per cent to close at N4.00.
The market breadth index remained negative after the bourse finished with 30 appreciating equities and 42 depreciating equities, indicating weak investor sentiment.
Wema Bank was the busiest stock at midweek, with a turnover of 106.4 million units for N2.8 billion. Access Holdings traded 59.0 million units worth N1.5 billion, Mutual Benefits sold 38.5 million units valued at N183.2 million, Fortis Global Insurance transacted 32.7 million units worth N40.3 million, and Sterling Holdco exchanged 30.2 million units valued at N219.1 million.
At the close of transactions, 671.3 million shares worth N26.1 billion exchanged hands in 58,792 deals during the session, in contrast to the 746.9 million shares valued at N27.9 billion transacted in 65,275 deals a day earlier, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 10.12 per cent, 6.45 per cent, and 9.93 per cent apiece.