The stock market closed the week on a bearish note, as key performance indicators dipped by 0.21 per cent on Friday amid selling pressure.
Specifically, the Nigerian Exchange Ltd., NGX, market capitalisation declined by N141 billion, or 0.21per cent, to N65.706 trillion from N65.847 trillion recorded on Thursday.
The All-Share Index also dropped by 0.21 per cent or 224.91 points to close at 104,563.34, down from 104,788.25 posted on Thursday.
The decline in the market was attributed to sell-offs in heavyweight stocks such as MTN Nigeria, Oando and other medium capitalised equities.
However, the market breadth closed positive with 36 stocks advancing against 20 decliners.
On the gainers’ chart, Caverton Offshore Support Group increased by 9.96 per cent to close at N2.54 while VFD Group soared by 9.90 per cent to close at N87.70 per share.
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ABBEY Mortgage Bank gained by 9.86 per cent to close at N6.13 and FTN Cocoa Processors rose by 9.83 per cent to close at N1.90 per share.
Also, Regency Alliance Insurance grew by 9.43 per cent to close at 58k per share.
On the losers’ chart, Deap Capital Management declined by 9.71 per cent to close at 93k while Royal Exchange dropped by 9.09 per cent to close at 80k per share.
Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 7.61 per cent to close at 85k and Guinea Insurance declined by 7.35 per cent to close at 63k per share.
Similarly, Oando Plc lost by 5.57 per cent to close at N39.00 per share.
A total of 379.95 million shares worth N10.10 billion were exchanged across 10,791 transactions.
This is compared to 432.56 million shares worth N9.719 billion that was exchanged across 12,027 transactions earlier recorded.
Transactions in the shares of Access Corporation topped the activity chart with 73.220 million shares worth N1.505 billion.
This is followed by Zenith Bank with 33.35 million shares valued at N1.647 billion while CUTIX sold 29.66 million shares worth N63 million.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company transacted 25.68 million shares valued at 1.731 billion and Fidelity Bank traded 19.65 million shares worth N374 million.
Mr Aruna Kebira, a stockbroker with Global View Capital Ltd., explained that the market’s decline followed a brief rebound from earlier losses.
Also reacting to the market performance, Mrs Eyitola Adu, Director, Morgan Capital Securities Ltd., noted that several stocks were beginning to rebound from previous declines.
“A number of stocks are picking up, recovering from the dip experienced earlier.
“The banking sector is showing signs of recovery, while the Oil and Gas sector is still on an upward rally,” he said.
NAN
