Selloffs in the shares of Dangote Cement, Conoil, and MTN Nigeria, among others, on Friday dragged the equity market’s performance indices down by 1.23 percent to close the week’s trading sessions.
Specifically, investors lost N672 billion, or 1.24 percent, as the market capitalization, which opened at N54.707 trillion, closed at N54.035 trillion.
The All-Share Index also lost 1.24 percent, or 1.228.32 points, to settle at 98,751.98, as against 99,980.3 recorded on Thursday.
Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return on the index dropped to 32.07 percent.
Selloffs in Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, Sovereign Trust Insurance, and Nestle put the market performance in negative territory.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover dropped when compared to the previous session, with the value of transactions down 22.01 percent.
A total of 367.62 million shares valued at N6.78 billion were exchanged in 9,168 deals, compared to 542.95 million shares valued at N8.70 billion exchanged in 9,650 deals posted previously.
Meanwhile, Dangote Cement and Conoil led the loser’s table by percentage terms of 10 each to close at N135, N90.90 per share, respectively.
MTN trailed by 9.96 percent to close at N200.70, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria lost 9.78 percent to close at N2.03, and Sovereign Trust Insurance shed 6.52 percent to close at 43k per share.
On the gainers table, Initiative Plc and FTN Cocoa Processors led by 10 percent each to close at N1.98 and N1.65 per share, respectively.
Juli Plc followed closely by 9.97 percent to close at N3.75, Champion Breweries Plc gained 9.94 percent to close at N3.76, and PZ Nigeria rose by 9.93 percent to close at N33.75 per share.
On the activity table, Transcorp led in volume with a trade of 57.00 million shares valued at N792.05 million, while Access Corporation sold 31.77 million shares worth N667.8 million.
The United Bank of Africa (UBA) traded 28.50 million shares valued at N674.07 million, and Fidelity Bank transacted 28.07 million shares worth N297.65 million.
Also, First City Monumental Bank (FCMB) sold 27.92 million shares worth N227.22 million.
However, market breadth closed positive with 43 gainers and eight losers on the trading floor. (NAN)
