Equities market down by 0.51% as investors lose N46bn

The Equities market dropped for the third consecutive trading session to record a decline of 0.51 per cent.

Consequently, the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index (NSEASI) and Market Capitalization depreciated by 0.51 per cent, bringing the Year-to Date return to -3.61 per cent.

Market Capitalization closed at N8.927 trillion against previous close of N8.973 trillion which also represents a decrease of 0.51 percent or a decline of N46 billion.

The newly listed Medview Airlines emerged the most traded stock for the day with 72.5 million units of shares worth N109.2 million, Paints and Coatings Manufacturing (Paintcom) was next with 58.7 million units valued at N61.6 million and Diamond Bank was third with 43.1 million units of shares valued at N40.6 million. Standard Trust Alliance (STACO) was the fourth most traded stock with 20 million units valued at N10 million while Fidelity Bank emerged fifth on the day’s top traded list with 18.3 million units of shares at N16.6 million.

The 305.0 million units of shares traded by investors for the day was 48 percent greater than previous session’s 205.8 million units, while value of equities traded for the day declined by 42.9 per  cent from previous session’s N2.8 billion to N1.6 billion which was recorded for the day.

Following the release of the company’s results on Tuesday, Forte Oil’s share price closed at N67.66, having dropped 5 per cent to lead the day’s declining stocks. Guinness and Unilever Nigeria followed with a depreciation of 4.99 per cent each to close at N60.95 and N33.73 respectively, Tourist company shed 4.89 percent to close at N3.50 while Neimeth decreased by 4.62 per cent to close at 62 kobo per share.

The day’s gainers list was topped by WAPCO with 8.27 per cent gain to close at N44.40 percent, Caverton followed with a growth of 4.00 per cent to close at 78 kobo per share while Access Bank added 3.18 per cent to close at N6.81 per share. Unity Bank increased by 2.56 per cent to close at 80 kobo and UBA gained 2.31 per cent to close at N4.88 per share. The day’s transactions were carried out in 2,620 deals lower than 2,914 deals recorded in Tuesday’s session.