Nigerian bourse records further downturn, capitalisation loses N281bn

The Nigerian bourse on Thursday closed further with a loss, as market capitalisation shed N281.2 billion to close at N26.78 trillion from N27.06 trillion posted on Wednesday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 1.04 per cent to close at 49, 667.14 points from 50,188.55 points recorded on Wednesday.

The downturn was due to extended selloffs in Tier-1 banks such as Zenith Bank and Stanbic Bank.

Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return fell to 16.27 per cent.

Overall, market breadth closed negative as 28 stocks declined while 10 others appreciated.

Upcredit recorded the highest price gain of 9.23 per cent to close at N3.55 per share.

RTBriscoe followed with a gain of 8.57 per cent to close at 38k per share, while Chams rose by 8.33 per cent to close at 26k per share.

Custodian Insurance rose by 7.94 per cent to close at N6.80 while Livestock gained 4.35 per cent to close at N1.20 per share.

On the other hand, LASACO led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at 90k per share.

Stanbic Bank depreciated by 9.98 per cent to close at N28.40, while Cadbury fell by 9.94 per cent to close at N15.40 per share.

Nestle followed with a decline of 9.84 per cent to close at N1262.30 per share, while Mansard lost 9.47 per cent to close at N1.72 per share.

Analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions depreciating by 4.49 per cent.

A total of 206.22 million units of shares valued N3.92 billion were traded in 5,053 deals.

Transcorp led the volume charts as the top traded stock by volume for the trading session with 38.53 million shares valued N39.01 million.

Zenith Bank followed with 16.93 million shares worth N333.74 million, while Chams traded 13.59 million shares valued N3.33 million.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 12.68 million shares valued N244.84 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) transacted 12.56 million shares worth N86.87 million.