The bears continued their reign on Thursday April 4 at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), causing equity investors to book additional loss of about N43.42billion at the close of trading.
With just 11 gainers as against 18 losers, the Year-to-Date (YtD) returns moved further into the negative territory to -5.97percent.
The NSE All Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 0.39percent to close at 29,553.12 points from a high of 29,668.73 points the preceding day. Also, the value of listed stocks closed at N11.100trillion against preceding day high of N11.144trillion.
Forte Oil Plc recorded the largest value increase, from N24.95 to N27.4, adding N2.45 or 9.82percent; also, Vitafoam moved up from N3.57 to N3.85, adding 28kobo or 7.84percent. Oando Plc increased from N4.8 to N4.95, adding 15kobo or 3.13percent.
On the losers table, Mobil Oil Plc recorded the highest dip, from N178 to N170, losing N8 or 4.49percent. CAP Plc was down from N37.4 to N33.7, losing N3.7 or 9.89percent; while Dangote Cement Plc dropped from N190 to N189, losing N1 or 0.53percent.
“The steep downtrend of the main index eased as losses tempered. The first trading week of the quarter will likely end in red even as declines continue to soften. However, as the All-Share Index dipped below 30,000 on Wednesday for the first time since January 9th, 2019, we see the possibility of investors bargaining on attractive entry prices of stocks across the board”, said research analysts at Lagos-based Vetiva Securities Limited.
In 4,133 deals, stock traders exchanged 499,087,955 units valued at N2.894billion. Sterling Bank Plc, Chams Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and UBA Plc were actively traded stocks on the NSE.
Iheanyi Nwachukwu
