In line with market analysts’ expectations, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) closed south on Thursday June 11, 2020 amid continued profit taking actions by investors.
The NSE ASI closed at 25,182.67 points, down by 32.37 points or 0.13percent as against preceding day high of 25,215.04 points. Equities market value decreased from N13.153trillion to N13.136trillion, after shedding N17billion. All sectoral indexes closed in the red except NSE insurance index.
Investors had earlier this week taken advantage of preceding week’s price reversal on the heavyweight counters to raise their bargain hunting activities, which helped to spur the market to a positive close week-on-week (WoW).
In the four-day trading week to Thursday, the market increased by 0.67 percent; month-to-date (MtD) it has decreased by -0.34 percent; while year-to-date (ytd) it is down by -6.18percent.
Brent Crude contract for August 2020 was down by $2.37 or 5.68percent to $39.36 per barrel as at 9.24am on Thursday. Oil prices dropped as fears resurfaced that a second wave of coronavirus could hit the US and stunt economic activity. Data showing that US oil inventories surged last week also subdued prices.
Analysts said rising cases this week in India and US increase the threat of a second wave of coronavirus, meaning lockdowns can go on for longer and weigh on the oil price.
