The equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited sustained its decline for the third straight day as investors lost N24.37bn at the end of trading on Wednesday.
The NGX All-Share Index declined by 0.12 per cent, closing at 39204.52 basis points from 39,251.29bps the previous day, while the market capitalisation dropped from N20.45tn to N20.43tn.
The NGX Premium and Main Board indices suffered declines of 0.04 per cent and -0.19 per cent respectively.
By sectors, the NGX Oil & Gas Index recorded a gain while others closed in the red.
NGX Banking Index fell by 0.32 per cent, NGX Insurance Index dropped by 1.01 per cent, NGX Consumer Goods Index declined by 0.08 per cent while NGX Industrial Index saw a marginal 0.001 per cent decline. The Oil and Gas Index rose by 0.55 per cent.
Market activity fell short of the previous day’s tally as trading volume fell by 0.53 per cent to 354.06 million shares valued at N3.20bn in 4,095 deals from 355.94 million shares worth N2.87bn in 4,241 deals on Tuesday.
Measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 16 firms recorded losses, compared to 15 gainers at the end of trading on Wednesday.
The losers were led by SCOA Nigeria Plc, which dropped by 9.72 per cent to N1.30 per share.
Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc followed with an 8.70 per cent decline to close at N0.21 per share.
Other major losers on Wednesday were AXA Mansard Insurance Plc (-5.68 per cent), Chams Plc (-4.55 per cent) and International Breweries Plc (-4.00 per cent).
Atop the gainers’ chart was Regency Alliance Insurance Plc, whose share price rose by 8.51 per cent to N0.51.
Universal Insurance Plc came next with a 5.00 per cent increase, closing at N0.21 per share on Wednesday. Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, FCMB Group Plc and Oando Plc also rose by 4.17 per cent, 3.45 per cent, and 3.18 per cent respectively.
FBN Holdings Plc was the top traded stock in terms of volume, accounting for 24.29 percent of the total volume of trades. It was followed by Access Bank (20.07 per cent), Universal Insurance (6.30 per cent), Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (5.49 per cent), and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (4.55 per cent).
Access Bank was the most traded stock in value terms, with 20.96 per cent of the total value of trade on the exchange.
