Equities mkt turns on its heels, ending 4-day consecutive gain

The All Share Index on Tuesday turned on its heels as it pared 0.3%. Notwithstanding, this came after recording four consecutive trading days of gain. Characterised by profit taking, the benchmark index settled at 25, 671.23 while YTD loss rested at -10.1%.

Similarly, capitalization dipped N8.8tn after losing N28.7bn while activity levels were mixed. volume traded grew 8.2% to 189.4m units while value traded dipped 20.7% to N2.5bn respectively.

Analysis by sector showed the Oil & Gas index unrelenting as it gained 2.8% on account of sustained interests in TOTAL (+10.2%) and FORTE OIL (+10.2%). Advancing 0.1%, the Banking index trailed while GUINNESS (-5.0%) and NESTLE (-1.2%) dragged the Consumer Goods index 0.8% lower. Industrial Goods followed on suit , sliding 0.6%, while the Insurance index closed flat.

At the close of trade, investor sentiment remained soft as reflected in the market breadth which closed at 0.9x (0.7x yesterday). This came on the back of fourteen advancers against  fifteen losers. DIAMONDBNK (4.97%) led the band of decliners today, trailed by  GUINNESS (4.93%), CAVERTON (4.90%), STERLNBANK (4.74%), and WEMABANK (4.49%).

As for the fifteen gainers, TOTAL (+10.2%) topped the chart, to be followed by FORTE OIL (+10.2%) and PORTPAINT (+9.5%).