…Index down 1.8%
By Nkiruka Nnorom
The gains recorded, Monday, in the stock market was reversed following profit taking in some blue chip companies, resulting in 1.8 percent losses at the end the day’s session.
The market had opened the first trading day of the year high with the benchmark All Share Index (ASI) crossing 41,000 points, but losses in BUA Cement Plc (-5.9%), Zenith Bank Plc (-4.3%) and MTN Nigeria Communication Plc (-2.8%) yesterday dragged the local bourse down with the ASI closing at 40,396.14 points from 41,147.39 points the previous day, indicating a 1.8 percent decline.
Accordingly, the Month-to-Date (M/D) and Year-to-Date (Y/D) gains moderated to +0.3 percent apiece.
In a similar vein, the market capitalisation also declined by N393 billion or 1.8 percent to close at N21.122 trillion.
Sectoral performance was negative as four of the five sectors recorded price decline. . Analysis showed that the banking sector declined the most, falling by three percent, followed by the industrial goods (-2.7%), consumer goods (-0.3%) and oil and gas (-0.03%) sectors.
However, the insurance sector emerged the sole gainer, rising by 1.6 percent.
The total volume of trades increased by 119.7 percent to 465.67 million units valued at N5.12 billion and exchanged in 7,573 deals.
Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc was the most traded stock by volume at 69.16 million units, while Zenith Bank was the most traded stock by value at N788.33 million.
Vanguard News Nigeria