The nation’s stock market finished lower on Tuesday as 20 firms saw their share prices decline at the end of trading.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index fell by 0.19 per cent to close at 40,494.35 basis points from 40,571.67bps on Monday.
The market capitalisation of listed equities declined by N40bn to N21.18tn from N21.22tn on Monday.
The top five losers at the end of trading on the floor of the NSE on Tuesday were Cornerstone Insurance Plc, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, Prestige Assurance Plc, Wapic Insurance Plc.
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Cornerstone Insurance and UPDC REIT declined by 10 per cent each to close at N0.54 and N5.40 per share respectively.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance fell by 9.52 per cent to N0.38 per share; Prestige Assurance lost 8.51 per cent to close at N0.43 per share, while Wapic shed 8.33 per cent to close at N0.55 per share.
Thirteen stocks recorded price appreciation at the end of trading on Tuesday, with Learn Africa Plc, Ardova Plc, Multiverse Mining and Exploration Plc, Wema Bank Plc and Guinness Nigeria Plc emerging the biggest gainers.
Learn Africa appreciated by 9.28 per cent to close at N1.06 per share, while Ardova gained 9.06 per cent to close at N18.05 per share.
Multiverse Mining and Exploration increased by 8.33 per cent to N0.26 per share; Wema Bank rose by 7.69 per cent to N0.70 per share, while Guinness gained 7.32 per cent to close at N22 per share.
Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said the local bourse retraced in Tuesday’s trading session as investors took profits off Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Nigerian Breweries Plc.
They said the month-to-date loss increased to -4.5 per cent, while the year-to-date gain moderated to +0.6 per cent.
The analysts said, “The total volume of trades increased by 72.8 per cent to 356.43 million units, valued at N5.76bn, and exchanged in 5,040 deals. GUARANTY was the most traded stock by volume and value at 46.16 million units and N1.43bn, respectively.
“Analysing by sectors, the insurance (-1.5 per cent), consumer goods (-0.5 per cent) and banking (-0.3 per cent) indices recorded declines, while the oil and gas (+1.1 per cent) index was the sole gainer of the day. The industrial goods index was flat.”
