Market indices drop on first day of trading

Figures from the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday show that the market indices depreciated to begin the week in negatives.

The All-Share Index reduced by 273.79 points, which is 0.64 per cent, a return to the 42,000 mark, as it closed at 42,758.02 points, as against the 43,031.81 points when market opened.

The market capitalisation also lost N90 billion to close at N14.118 trillion, compared with the opening capitalisation of N14.208 trillion.

Nestle led the gainers’ table, adding N10.00, to close at N1,100.00 per share.

Guinness followed with a gain of N1.77 to close at N196.00, while Nigerian Breweries and CAP grew marginally by N0.50 to close at N174.00 and N39.00 per share respectively.

On the other hand, Seplat recorded the highest price loss, shedding N18.00 to close at N702.00 per share.

Dangote Cement trailed with a loss of N5.00 to close at N245.00, while UCAN dipped by N3.63 to close at N62.37 per share.

Forte Oil also lost N2.08 to close at N198.00, while Unilever depreciated by N1.99 to close at N53.01 per share.

In all, investors staked N4.509 billion on 460.2 million shares in 5,215 deals.

First Bank Holdings was the most active stock, accounting for 90.93 million shares worth N1.45 billion.

Transcorp came second with 77.9 million shares valued at N428.1 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 61.01 million shares worth N122.08 million.