The market continued on a negative trend for the second consecutive day as the All-Share Index dipped 0.95% to close at 28,009.40 points. Activity level was mixed with volume traded dipping 5.5% to 187.2 million units while value traded climbed 11.8% to N1.5 billion.
Market capitalization similarly slid N94.3 billion to settle at N9.6 trillion.
Analysis by sector showed a generally bearish performance with the insurance index being the outlier. AIICO gained 1.2% nudging the Insurance Index up 7bps. Biggest contractor was the Banking Index (-2.3%) as Guaranty and Zenith depreciated 3.6% and 3.7% percent respectively. Forte Oil (-4.5%) and Conoil (0.3%) placed the Oil 7 Gas Index up next, declining 1.4%. Dangcem (-1.1%) and Unilever (-2.3%) bore their weight on the Industrial and Consumer Goods indices each sliding 0.6% and 0.4% respectively.
22 stocks declined while 20 did the contrary with the market breadth settling at 0.9x, an improvement from 0.6x the previous day (Tuesday). Investor sentiment as such remains soft. Top gaining stocks or better yet best performing stocks were FCMB (+6.3%), Diamond (+5.0%) and Okomuoil (+5.0%). On the decliners’ table, PZ (-9.7%), Caverton (-8.6%) and Flourmill (-5.0%) declined the most.
Read also:http://Market remains bearish, NSE-ASI drops 0.95%
Investors are optimistic on earning results for the third quarter of the year while analysts expect a sideways market for the rest of the week.
