Renewed bearish activity drags NSE index down 0.39%

After it traded negative to close last week session, the Nigerian stock market on Tuesday resumed trading for the week on a bearish note.

The All-Share Index fell by 0.39 per cent to close at 38,766.61 basis points, while the market capitalisation moderated also by 0.39 per cent to N20.28tn.

At the close of the day’s trading, investors lost N78.53bn, even as the year-to-date loss of the ASI further rose to -3.73 per cent.

Amid the negative sentiment, 21 stocks closed in the red zone, while 14 stocks closed in the green territory.

Both mid and large capitalised stocks suffered losses as investors sold part of their holdings in Guinness Nigeria, Oando, Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank and Lafarge Africa, hence their share prices moderated by 8.08 per cent, 3.13 per cent, 3.34 per cent, 0.90 per cent and 0.69 per cent respectively.

Sectorial performance was weak as four out of the five indices tracked closed in the red.

The banking, insurance, consumer goods and oil and gas indices fell by 1.67 per cent, 0.53 per cent, 0.39 per cent and 0.11 per cent respectively, while the industrial index closed flat.

Trading activity was mixed. While the total volume and value of stocks traded fell, deal rose by 5.06 per cent.

At the close of the Tuesday’s trading, total volume of trade dropped by 6.19 per cent to 224.59 million units valued at N2.14bn in 4,675 deals.