The local bourse maintained its bearish performance from the previous day as the All-Share Index decreased by 0.09 per cent at the end of equities trading on Thursday.
At the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) the equities market sustained its descent, following profit-taking activities in Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Zenith Bank and Access Holdings, leading to 2.4 per cent, 2.1 per cent and 3.8 per cent.
Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -0.5 per cent and +1.8 per cent, respectively.
On the note of the bearish trading sessions at the NGX, equities investors lost N26.04 billion leaving the market capitalization lower to settle at N28.40 trillion.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 22 tickers gained relative to 20 losers. On the performance board, Ardova and NCR recorded the highest gains of the day having appreciated in share value by 10.0 per cent and 9.9 per cent, respectively, while FCMB Group and Access Holdings topped the losers’ list after their share prices dipped by 5.7 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively.
Performance across the sub-sectors was negative as the NGX Banking, NGX Insurance, and NGX Industrial indexes fell by 1.35 per cent, 0.10 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively, while the NGX Insurance and the NGX Oil/Gas indices rose by 0.18 per cent and 1.34 per cent, respectively.
Negative sentiment reflects abroad as activities at the local bourse on Thursday was tepid. Analysis of market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 12.04 per cent.
A total of 477.37 millio shares valued at N5.24 billion were exchanged in 5,539 deals. For the fifth consecutive session, Access Holdings led volume and value charts with 169.32 million units traded in deals worth N1.74 billion.
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