Trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited sustained a bearish sentiment on Wednesday, as the All-Share Index moderated by 0.92 per cent to close at 39,443.81 basis points.
The market capitalisation also fell by 0.92 per cent to settle at N20.64tn amid a sustained profit-taking activity.
At the end of Wednesday’s trade, investors lost N192.69bn as the market recorded 22 losers and 16 gainers.
The year-to-date loss of the ASI rose to -2.07 per cent.
As investors sold part of their holdings in such stocks as Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Guaranty Trust Bank, Unilever Nigeria, Zenith Bank, and Julius Berger Nigeria, their share prices fell by 10 per cent, 3.65 per cent, 8.21 per cent, 3.18 per cent and 2.33 per cent respectively.
Sectoral performance was weak as three out of the five indices tracked closed in the red zone. The banking, consumer goods and oil and gas indices fell by 1.69 per cent, 0.52 per cent and 229 per cent respectively.
While the industrial index rose by 0.29 per cent, the insurance index closed flat.
At the close of the day’s trading, total deals, volume and value of stocks traded fell. The total volume of stocks fell by 38.90 per cent to 260.57 million units, valued at N2.39bn in 3,570 deals.
