Equities investors lose N110bn as Oando, PZ Cussons fall – Daily Trust

Investors in Nigerian equities lost more than N110 billion on Wednesday as renewed selling pressure on Oando, PZ Cussons, Dangote Sugar Refinery and other major stocks pushed the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) lower.

The NGX All-Share Index declined by 0.07 per cent, shedding 176.75 points to close at 250,096.75. Consequently, market capitalisation fell by N110.16 billion to N162.39 trillion.

Trading activity also weakened, with total volume and value of transactions declining by 22.83 per cent and 36.37 per cent respectively.

A total of 446.99 million shares, valued at N22.95 billion, changed hands in 38,905 deals.

Zenith Bank led trading volume, accounting for 7.87 per cent of total shares traded. CMFC followed with 7.38 per cent, while AccessCorp, Multitrex and Sovereign Insurance accounted for 5.70 per cent, 5.50 per cent and 5.49 per cent respectively.

Zenith Bank also dominated the value chart, contributing 20.77 per cent of the total value traded during the session.

Market breadth remained negative, with 22 stocks gaining and 30 declining.

Tripple Gee led the gainers with a 9.96 per cent increase, followed by CMFC, Champion Breweries, WAPIC, Multitrex and Royal Exchange, which gained 9.86 per cent, 9.50 per cent, 9.24 per cent, 8.33 per cent and 8.00 per cent respectively.

On the losers’ chart, Thomas Wyatt recorded the biggest decline, falling 9.74 per cent. Sovereign Insurance dropped 7.60 per cent, LivingTrust Mortgage declined 7.25 per cent, while Neimeth, Veritas Kapital and Japaul Gold fell 4.61 per cent, 4.42 per cent and 3.33 per cent respectively.

Sectoral performance was also largely negative, with three of the five major sectors closing lower.

The Banking Index declined by 0.36 per cent, followed by Oil and Gas at 0.09 per cent and Consumer Goods at 0.08 per cent.

Insurance and Industrial Goods, however, gained marginally by 0.03 per cent and 0.002 per cent respectively.