Local stock market falls by 0.3% as bears persist

Equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday was bearish as the benchmark index fell by 0.31 per cent to settle at  66,448.63 basis points, putting the index on track for a third successive weekly loss.

The domestic equities market extended the week’s losses as profit-taking activities witnessed in Dangote Sugar and United Bank for Africa (UBA) drove the All-Share Index (ASI) lower.

Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -0.2 per cent and +29.7 per cent, respectively.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative, as 26 tickers lost relative to 16 gainers. On the performance board, Vitafoam and FTN Cocoa Processor topped the losers’ list, having lost 9.9 per cent from their respective share prices, while RTBriscoe and CWG recorded the most significant gains of the day after their share prices appreciated by 9.8 per cent and 9.7 per cent.

Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Banking and Consumer Goods indices closed in the red, having depreciated by 2.0 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively, while the Oil & Gas and Industrial Goods indices closed flat. Meanwhile, the Insurance index was the sole gainer of the day, having appreciated by 0.8 per cent.

Analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 24.67 per cent. A total of 273.80 million shares valued at 3.41 billion were exchanged in 6,826 deals.

Access Holdings led the volume and value charts with 45.88 million units traded in deals worth N710.63 million.

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