Trading on the equities market dipped yesterday with a N25 billion loss, occurring a day after the market recorded a rebound of N50bn gain.
At the close of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, the local bourse posted a bearish performance as the All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 12 basis points (bps) to close at 41,099.15 points due to sell-offs in Mansard (-9.8 per cent), UBA (-1.7%) and Dangote Cement (-0.2%).
As a result, the year to date return moderated to 2.1% while market capitalisation declined by ₦25.4bn to settle at ₦21.5 trillion.
Activity level improved as volume and value traded rose 72.6% and 38.7% to 1.1bn units and ₦6.4bn respectively.
The most traded stocks by volume were Transcorp (428.3m units), Guaranty (62.1m units), and Sovrenins (61.4m units) while Guaranty (₦2.0bn), Zenith (₦708.1m), and Wapco (₦620.5m) topped by value.
Performance across sectors was largely bearish as 4 of 6 indices under review closed southward.