Sell pressure pushes stock market down by 0.05%

The stock market on Thurday continued on a downturn trend as performance indices declined by 0.05 per cent due to persistent sell pressure.

Specifically, the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalisation was down by N35 billion or 0.05 per cent to N65.754 trillion from N65.789 trillion recorded on Wednesday.

Also, the All-Share Index dropped by 0.05 per cent or 56.36 points to close at 104,858.77 against 104,915.13 posted the previous day.

Persistent selling pressure on major stocks which include Unilever, Accesscorp, Afriprud and others pushed the market into a downturn.

Similarly, market breadth closed negative with 28 losers and 14 gainers.

On the losers’ chart, Livestock Feeds dropped by 9.57 per cent to close at N7.65, while Royal Exchange lost by 8.24 per cent to close at 78k per share.

Custodian Investment Trust declined by 6.98 per cent to close at N20 and UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust fell by 6.23 per cent to close at N2.86 per share.

Also, Champion Breweries lost by 5.16 per cent to close at N2.02 per share.

Meanwhile, on the gainers’ chart, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) soared by 9.64 per cent to close at N9.10, while Veritas Kapital Assurance increased by 8.41 per cent, to close at N1.16 per share.

Deap Capital Management and Trust gained by 7.61 per cent to close at 99k, while WAPIC Insurance soared by 4.26 per cent to close at N2.45 per share.

Also, Wema Bank increased by 2.37 per cent to close at N10.80 per share.

A total of 310.53 million shares worth N6.247 billion were exchanged across 10,182 transactions.

This is compared to 1.37 billion shares worth N12.375 billion that was exchanged across 12,012 transactions earlier recorded.

Transactions in the shares Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 40 million shares valued N672 million.

Veritas Kapital Assurance followed with 37.176million shares worth N42.415 million while Nigerian Breweries traded 27.011 million shares valued at N890 million.

Zenith Bank sold 22.905 million shares worth N1.072 billion and Access Corporation traded 20.983 million shares, worth N464 million.

Analysts at Veltiva Securities Ltd. said that as the week draws to a close, investors might look to rebalance positions, potentially driving mixed sentiment.

“However, persistent weakness in the banking sector could continue to weigh on the index,” they said.