Trading activity on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited moved further downward on Thursday, as sentiment remained negative following sell-off on mid and large capitalised stocks.
The domestic market All-Share Index moderated by 0.49 per cent to close at 38,044.58 points, while the market capitalisation dropped to N19.83tn after investors lost N98.57bn.
The year-to-date loss of the ASI rose to -5.52 per cent even as the stock prices of 21 companies fell, while that of 16 companies appreciated.
Following the negative sentiment in the market, investors sold part of their holdings in stocks such as Dangote Cement, UAC of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank and Eterna, as the companies’ share prices moderated by 0.6 per cent, 0.25 per cent, 0.35 per cent and 0.25 per cent.
Except for the consumer goods index that rose by 0.13 per cent, break down across sub-sectors indicated that four out of the five indices tracked closed in the red zone.
The banking, insurance, oil and gas and industrial indices fell by 0.36 per cent, 0.25 per cent, 1.11 per cent and 1.07 per cent respectively.
Trading activity was weak as total deal and value of stock traded fell. However, at the close of the day’s trading, the total volume of stocks rose to 214.17 million units, valued at N1.34bn in 3,565 deals.
