Stock market opens weekly trading with N54bn loss

The Nigerian equities market began trading for the week on Monday still in a negative mood with the market capitalisation losing N54 billion or 0.27 percent to close at N20.089 trillion from N20.143tr achieved on Friday.

The loss was said to be due to renewed profit taking.

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Specifically, the All-Share Index which opened for the week at 38,648.91 shed 103.61 points or 0.27 percent to close at 38,545.30.

Accordingly, month-to-date gain moderated to 0.3%, while year-to-date loss increased to 4.3%.

The market loss was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are Fidson Healthcare, Lasaco Assurance, Oando, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Dangote Sugar Refinery.

However, the market sentiment, as measured by market breadth, was positive with 18 gainers against 17 laggards.

The total volume of shares transacted declined by 5.18% with an exchange of 209.21 million shares valued at N1.76bn in 3,390 deals.

This was in contrast with 220.64m shares worth N2.53bn traded in 2,952 deals on Friday. (NAN)