The equities market sustained its bearish performance on Wednesday, on the back of sell-off on the shares of MTN Communication Nigeria Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, ETI.
Breakdown of the day’s trading shows that the shares of MTN depreciated by four percent to N112.00 per share, while Ecobank recorded 0.25 percent decline to close at N6.25 per share.
Consequently, the benchmark All Share Index, ASI, declined by 0.22 percent to 26,974.38 points, while the month-to-date and year-to-date losses increased to 0.48 percent and 0.49 percent, respectively.
Investors’ wealth also declined by N31 billion to N14.052 trillion, representing 0.22 percent decline.
All sector indices recorded expansion save for the insurance sector, which nose-dived by 1.14 percent.
On the other hand, the industrial goods sector led the other sectors, rising by 1.95 percent, followed by the banking sector with 0.38 percent, and consumer goods sector with 0.01 percent increase, while the oil and gas sector closed flat.
The total volume of trades decreased by 5.52 percent to 228.38 million units, valued at N2.74 billion and exchanged in 3,831deals.
United bank for Africa, UBA, Plc emerged the most traded stock by volume at 81.12 million units, while Zenith Bank Plc was the most traded by value at N590.3 million.
Market sentiment on equities, as measured by market breadth, was negative (0.7x), as 15 tickers declined, relative to 11 gainers.
Vitafoam Nigeria Plc led the laggards with 10 percent price decrease, followed by Red Star Express with 9.76 percent decline, while Honeywell Flour Mills Plc and FCMB Group led the gainers with 9.38 percent and 6.29 percent price appreciation, respectively.
It was bearish in the equities market.