It was another horrible session for investors trading local equities as the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further declined by 0.36 per cent on Thursday.
Customs Street has been under pressure since President Donald Trump of the United States threatened military action in Nigeria over killings by terrorists.
Just when the bourse was recovering from effect of the coup rumour on the market, it is faced with Mr Trump’s threat.
Yesterday, continued profit-taking across sectors left the NGX in red, with the All-Share Index (ASI) giving up 547.32 points to close at 150,026.55 points compared with Wednesday’s 150,573.87 points, and the market capitalisation declining by N348 billion to N95.317 trillion from N95.665 trillion.
Business Post reports that the banking segment lost 0.56 per cent, the insurance counter declined by 0.28 per cent, the consumer goods sector shed 0.06 per cent, and the energy space fell by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods space appreciated by 0.20 per cent, with the commodity flat.
Legend Internet was the worst-performing equity after it shrank by 9.93 per cent to N5.26, Champion Breweries slipped by 9.72 per cent to N14.40, Tantalizers crashed by 8.12 per cent to N2.15, Sovereign Trust Insurance tumbled by 7.51 per cent to N3.08, and Linkage Assurance dropped 7.50 per cent to close at N1.85.
On the flip side, the best-performing equity was UPDC, which gained 9.83 per cent to finish at N6.59, FCMB improved by 8.00 per cent to N10.80, Omatek advanced by 7.44 per cent to N1.30, AIICO Insurance rose by 5.35 per cent to N3.74, and AXA Mansard appreciated by 5.26 per cent to N14.00.
Like the preceding sessions, the market breadth index was negative yesterday with 39 price losers and 15 price gainers, reflecting weak investor sentiment.
As for the activity chart, it was in red after market participants traded 619.6 million stocks for N16.5 billion in 24,865 deals versus the 1.1 billion stocks worth N29.8 billion transacted in 27,303 deals a day earlier, indicating a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 43.67 per cent, 44.63 per cent, and 8.93 per cent, respectively.
FCMB topped the chart with a turnover of 150.0 million units sold for N1.6 billion, Consolidated Hallmark traded 79.1 million units valued at N319.7 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 41.9 million units worth N2.5 billion, Sterling Holdco transacted 38.5 million units for N315.0 million, and Access Holdings traded 32.3 million units worth N731.4 million.