Nigeria’s equities market saw its first negative close this week, decreasing by 0.32 percent on Thursday, August 5.

As expected, the nation’s stock market witnessed quiet buy-side activity as sentiment begins to tilt towards the negative following mixed half-year (H1) scorecards released by most corporates.

Amid this performance, market watchers anticipate another negative session on Friday as investors continue to take profit in some names that had gained in past sessions.

Investors booked about N65billion loss on Thursday, driven mostly by a record decrease in the share price of Ardova Plc, which led the laggards league. Its share price moved from N16 to N15, down by N1 or 6.25percent.

Read also: Nigeria’s equities shed N159bn as profit-taking continues

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On the gainers table, Conoil Plc led other counters after its share price moved from N18.50 to N20.35, up by N1.85 or 10percent.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation decreased from day-open highs of 38,927.83 points and N20.281trillion respectively to 38,801.51 points and N20.216 trillion.

UBA, GTCo, Zenith Bank, Wema Bank and AIICO were actively traded stocks on the Bourse.

In 3,655 deals, investors exchanged 139.782million shares valued at N1.41billion.

The stock market’s negative return year-to-date (Ytd) increased to -3.65 percent.

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By Iheanyi Nwachukwu • August 6, 2021

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.

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