Investors lose N274bn on NGX Wednesday

Mixed sentiments persisted on the nation’s bourse on Wednesday with the market capitalisation dropping  N274 billion in six hours of trading due to sell-off of blue chips.

Specifically, the market capitalisation dipped N274 billion or 1.33 per cent to close at N20.296 trillion from N20.570 trillion achieved on Tuesday.

Also, the All-Share Index which opened at 39,305.48 points lost 524 points or 1.33 per cent to close at 38,781.48.

The market loss was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which were; Guinness Nigeria, International Breweries, Ardova Plc, PZ Cussons and UACN.

The market sentiment remained negative with 23 laggards against 20 gainers.

FTN Cocoa Processors led the losers’ chart in percentage terms with 10 per cent to close at 36k per share.

Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals followed with 8.95 per cent to close at N1.73, while International Breweries lost 8.77 per cent to close at N5.20 per share.

PZ Cussons dropped 7.41 per cent to close at N5, while Cornerstone Insurance shed 7.02 per cent to close at 53k per share.

On the other hand, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance drove the gainers’ chart in percentage terms with 10 per cent to close at 33k per share.

Portland Paints & Products Nigeria followed with a gain 8.33 per cent to close at N2.60, while Royal Exchange went up by 7.14 per cent to close at 45k per share.

Associated Bus Company rose by 6.90 per cent to close at 31k, while Japaul Gold and Venture gained 5.17 per cent to close at 61k per share.

Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings topped the activity chart with 69.48 million shares valued at N514.30 million.

Transcorp followed with 36.72 million shares worth N32.97 million, while Zenith Bank traded 16.58 million shares valued  N366.43 million.

Sovereign Trust Insurance exchanged 12.58 million shares worth N2.88 million, while United Capital transacted 8.89 million shares worth N50.22 million.

In all, the total volume of shares transacted increased by 2.8 per cent to 259.51 million shares valued  N1.91 billion exchanged in 3,547 deals.

This was in contrast with 252.58 million shares worth N1.78 billion achieved in 3,477 deals on Tuesday.