Investors Lose N69bn as NGX Reverses Gains, ASI Down 10bps

Samuel Mobolaji

Equities on the Nigerian Exchange shed further ground on Tuesday, with investors losing N69 billion in market value as the All-Share Index declined by 10 basis points to close at 109,619.10 points.

The market capitalisation also dropped to N68.89 trillion, reversing the previous session’s gains and dragging the year-to-date return down to 6.50 per cent from 6.61 per cent.

Investor sentiment remained cautiously positive, with market breadth closing at 1.07-to-1 as advancers narrowly outnumbered decliners. However, weak price movement in large-cap stocks and profit-taking in mid-tier counters kept gains in check. CHAMPION and LASACO topped the losers’ chart, both dropping 10.00 per cent, while RTBRISCOE and ENISELL gained 10.00 per cent and 9.75 per cent, respectively.

Market turnover reflected a mixed trend. While volume increased by 33.62 per cent to 664.15 million units, the total value of transactions dipped slightly by 1.64 per cent to N12.99 billion.

JAPAULGOLD led activity by volume with 90.02 million shares traded, while Nigerian Breweries emerged the most valuable equity with N3.13 billion in turnover.

In the NASD OTC market, investor appetite remained weak, with the NSI declining by 1 basis point to 3,154.20 points and market capitalisation closing at N1.85 billion. Trading volume and value dropped by 30.48 per cent and 32.41 per cent to 398.09 units and N4.11 million, respectively. Total trades also slipped by 5.00 per cent to 19 deals.

With investors continuing to digest earnings reports and sectoral fundamentals, the market appears to be entering a consolidation phase as risk appetite moderates.