Local stock market reverses 14-day rally, sheds 0.95 per cent

Following 14 days of consecutive bullish run, the Nigerian equities market halts gains, on Wednesday, as market indicators depreciated by 0.95 per cent.

Specifically, All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) moderated by 0.95 per cent to close at 28,634.35 basis points amid renewed bearish activity, just as the market capitalisation lost N143.75 billion to close at N14.97 trillion.

Hence, the Year-to-Date (YtD) gain of the NSE ASI moderated to 6.7 per cent.

Also, the equities market breadth followed negative stance with the Exchange recording 31 losers as against 21 gainers as investors sold part of their holdings in blue-chip stocks to book profit amid the recent rise in price.

Hence, share prices of MTN Nigeria, Zenith Bank, WAPCO, Dangote Cement and Guaranty Trust Bank shed 1.54 per cent, 5.53 per cent, 4.27 per cent, 0.13 per cent and 1.90 per cent.

The sectoral performance was unimpressive as four indices closed in negative territory except for the NSE Consumer Goods index which rose by 0.24 per cent.

The NSE Banking, NSE Insurance, NSE Oil/Gas and NSE industrial indices fell by 3.27 per cent, 1.99 per cent, 0.10 per cent and 0.34 per cent respectively.

However, market activity was bullish as the total volume and value of stocks traded rose by 11.13 per cent and 0.46 per cent to 83 million units and N9.5 billion respectively.

On Wednesday, FBN Holdings was the most traded stock by volume at 128.79 million units while Zenith Bank was the most traded stock by value at N2.44 billion.