The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited recorded its first loss in six consecutive trading sessions on Friday, declining by 0.09 per cent at the close of business.
The slip was influenced by selling pressure on Nigerian stocks in the industrial goods, insurance and consumer goods sectors, with their respective indices going down by 1.39 per cent, 0.62 per cent, and 0.13 per cent.
This occurred despite the energy space growing by 0.98 per cent, the banking index appreciating by 0.97 per cent, and the commodity counter increasing by 0.49 per cent.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 120.15 points to 140,545.69 points from 140,665.84 points and the market capitalisation went down by N82 billion to N88.922 trillion from N89.004 trillion.
Mutual Benefits gave up 7.80 per cent to sell for N3.90, Lasaco Assurance depreciated by 5.97 per cent to N2.99, DAAR Communication plunged by 4.50 per cent to N1.06, PZ Cussons lost 3.33 per cent to N34.85, and NGX Group crashed by 3.30 per cent to N60.15.
On the flip side, Regency Alliance gained 9.93 per cent to finish at N1.66, eTranzact grew by 9.93 per cent to N14.95, Chellarams rose by 9.92 per cent to N13.30, Industrial and Medical Gases jumped by 9.91 per cent to N36.60, and John Holt inflated by 9.56 per cent to N7.45.
Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 31 price gainers and 21 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
The level of activity improved yesterday as investors transacted 434.7 million equities valued at N16.2 billion in 23,729 deals versus the 378.2 million equities worth N12.4 billion traded in 22,935 deals on Thursday.
This indicated that the volume of transactions, the value of trades, and the number of deals soared by 14.94 per cent, 30.65 per cent, and 3.47 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock was Secure Electronic Technology traded 71.4 million units worth N58.7 million, Access Holdings exchanged 41.0 million units for N1.1 billion, Sterling Holdings transacted 37.2 million units valued at N279.0 million, Regency Alliance sold 20.2 million units worth N33.5 million, and Chams transacted 19.4 million units valued at N62.9 million.