Losses in BUA Cement stocks pull NGX ASI down further by 1.5%

BEARISH sentiment continues at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Tuesday as investors lose N849 billion at the close of Tuesday’s trade. The Nigerian equities market suffered a massive loss, as its All-Share Index (ASI) further declined by 1.50 percent to close at 102,108.05 basis points. Basically, the local bourse sustained its bearish sentiments as investors sold off BUA Cement leading to 10.0 percent decline in its share price Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns declined to +0.9 percent and +36.6percemt, respectively. As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative, as 44 tickers lost relative to 13 gainers. BUA Cement and Sterling Financial Holdings topped the losers’ list after losing 10.0 percent and 9.9 percent respectively from their share prices, while Cadbury and Meyer recorded the highest gains of the day after their respective share prices appreciated by 10.0 percent and 9.9 percent. Performance across the sectors indicated broad based losses as four out of the five sub-sector gauges tracked closed in the red zone. The Banking, Insurance, Consumer and Industrial Goods indexes declined by 2.27 percent 1.00 percent, 0.22 percent and 3.79 percent, respectively. The Oil/Gas sector held steady from the previous session. Furthermore, negative sentiment pervaded the market as trading on the NGX displayed bearish results, with the total deals, volume and value nosediving by 13.99 percent, 41.28 percent and 60.70 percent to 11,761 deals, 494.19 million units and N7.60 billion, respectively. At the close of the trading session, Jaiz Bank took the spotlight as the most traded security in terms of volume with 90.78 million units, traded across 433 deals, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company led in traded value at N1.32 billion.