Nigerian stock market sustains bearish trend, down by 0.57%

Nigerian stock market further traded down on Wednesday following sell-offs on bellwether stocks.

The All-Share Index fell by 0.57 per cent to close at 39,045.13 basis points. Also, the market capitalisation dropped by 0.57 per cent to close at N20.43tn.

At the close of the day’s trading session, investors lost N116.14bn, as 18 stocks gained against 24 stocks that declined.

The year-to-date loss of the ASI also slipped to -3.04 per cent.

Given the sell pressure on blue chips such as MTN, Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and United Bank for Africa, their share prices fell by 2.91 per cent, 0.67 per cent, 3.61 per cent, 0.45 per cent and 2.08 per cent respectively.

Sectoral performance was positive, as three of the five indices tracked closed in the green.

The insurance, consumer goods and oil and gas indices rose by 2.22 per cent, 0.39 per cent and 0.02 per cent respectively, while the banking and the industrial indices fell by 0.84 per cent and 0.03 per cent.

Trading activity was mixed. While the total volume of traded stocks rose, total deals and value of stocks declined.

The volume of trade rose by 3.29 per cent to 347.17 million units valued at N2.80bn in 3,990 deals.