Equities trading closes negative as investors lose N78bn

Equities trading begins the week on a bearish trend as the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index dipped by 0.39 per cent in the session to close at 38,766.61 basis points on Tuesday.

After the Easter break, the local bourse went southward to peg the market capitalisation at N20.283 trillion as investors shed N78 billion from their net worth.

Consequently, the Year-to-Date performance of the NSEASI stood at -3.73 per cent.

Also, the market breadth closed in favour of the bears, as 14 counters in the gainers’ chart were overshadowed by 21 counters in the losers’ chart.

On the performance chart, Eterna PLC led the gainers, flanked by Linkage Insurance, Royal Exchange, Japaul Gold and FCMB Holdings.

From the rear of the chart, MRS, ALEX, CHI Plc, Sterling Bank and Guinness Nigeria populated the top losers’ chart.

All sectoral indices closed in tandem with the ASI, with the exception of the NSE ASEM which closed flat as the Banking sector dips 1.67 per cent to shed the most weight on the back of negative outing by Sterling Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank.

Market activity as measured by both volume and value of trades continue to decline further even as corporate action announcements are on the increase.

Daily traded volume stood at 225 million units, a 6.19 per cent decrease from a volume of 239 million units traded in the previous session.

The value of traded stocks also waned in the session by 7.43 per cent to stand at N2.143 billion as against a value of N2.315 billion recorded in the previous trading session.

UACN shares were the toast of investors on Tuesday as it made the most traded stock of the day. It is flanked in the session by Access Bank, FBN Holdings, Zenith Bank and Fidelity Bank to complete the list of the five most traded stocks in terms of volume of trades.

With regards to the value of traded stocks, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, UACN, Access Bank and FBN Holdings made up the top five performers.

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The 624 new cases reported between March 28 and April 3 is a reduction from the 849 recorded the previous week…Equities trading closes negative as investors lose N78bn

Equities trading closes negative as investors lose N78bn