NGX closes lower, sheds N32bn

Trading on the floor of Nigerian Exchange NGX on Thursday trended downward , depreciating by N32 billion as losses in some capitalised stocks weigh down on the transaction for the day.

Market capitalization of listed equities declined by 0.20 per cent to N156.207 trillion from N156.239 trillion reported the previous day.

The NGX All Share Index also depreciated by 221.14 basis points to 242145.61 points from 242366.75 points it closed the previous day.

Although the market breath was positive, with 26 advancers against 21 decliners, losses in the shares of BuaCement, Enusell, Cap Plc and other 28 companies affected trading for the day , bringing year to date to 51.61 per cent.

A review of the trading showed that FirstHoldco led gainers table with 9.96 per cent to close at N87.25 per unit, Mcnichols followed with a gain of 8.0 per cent to close at N5.40 per unit, United Bank for Africa added 7.83 per cent to close at N44.25 per unit, Veritas Kapital increased by 6.85 per cent to close at N1.56 per unit, Jaiz Bank up by 4.07 per cent to close at N8.95 per unit.

On the contrary, Enusell topped topper losers chart, dropping by 10 per cent to close at N189.00 per share, BuaCement trailed with a loss of 9.99 per cent to close at N275.60 per unit, Cap Plc down by 9.61 per cent to close at N142.45 per unit, Royal Express depreciated by 9.55 per cent to close at N1.42 per unit, Guinea Insurance dipped by 5.35 per cent to close at N0.88 per share.

The result further showed that Volume of trades went up by 22.11 million, representing 4.64 per cent as investors traded 498.450 million shares against 476.340 million shares reported the previous day. The value of shares increased by 17.70 per cent settling at N34.87 billion.

Transactions in the shares of Japaul Gold led market activities with 77.658 million shares valued at N231.524 million, Access Holdings Company followed with account of 41.161 million shares worth N1.017 billion, FirstHoldco traded 38.800 million shares worth N3.383 billion, UBA accounted for 31.525 million shares cost N1.381 billion and Fidelity Bank exchanged 23.807 million shares valued at N495.007 million.