Stock market sustains lull as investors lose N729.2bn

ON Tuesday, the domestic bourse extended losses from the previous session, bringing the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) down by 1.30 percent to close at 101,060.67 basis points.

Bearish sentiment in BUA Cement, Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Holding Company caused the drag in the equities market, having dipped in share value by 9.98 percent, 0.14 percent and 0.38 percent, respectively

Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -0.1 percent and +35.2 percent, respectively.

Equities investors, therefore, lost N729.16 billion as the market capitalisation settled at N55.30 trillion at the end of the day’s trading activities at the local bourse.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 42 tickers lost relative to seven gainers. On the performance board, Honeywell and BUA Cement topped the losers’ list having depreciated in share value by 10.0 percent, respectively, while Eterna and Veritas Capital recorded the most significant gains of the day after their respective share prices appreciated by 6.2 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively.

Also, sectoral performance was broadly negative as the insurance, industrial goods, banking, and consumer goods indices settled lower by 3.9 percent, 3.6 percent, 2.4 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively, while the oil and gas index recorded gains.

Analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 10.90 percent.

A total of 256.16 million shares valued at N6.63 billion were exchanged in 8,783 deals. Transnational Corporation led the volume chart with 39.75 million units traded while Geregu Power led the value chart in deals worth N1.11 trillion