By Ifeyinwa Ezeokoli
The Nigerian equity market continued its downward trend on Wednesday as profit-taking activities on Geregu Power share (-6.5 percent) and Zenith Bank (-4.6 percent) caused a 0.42 percent decline in the All-Share Index.
The All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 232.70 points, or 0.42 percent, to 55,490.20.
Accordingly, the month-to-date loss increased to -0.6 percent, while the year-to-date gain moderated to 8.3 percent.
Also, the market capitalization dipped by N127 billion to close at N30.229 trillion.
The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large-cap stocks, amongst which are Geregu Power, Flour Mills of Nigeria, United Capital, Zenith Bank, and Chemical & Allied Products (CAP).
Market breadth was negative, with 11 gainers against 19 losers.
United Capital led the losers’ chart in percentage terms by 9.30 percent to close at N11.70 per share.
READ ALSO: Nigeria expects inflow of $400 mln from S/Africa’s Standard Bank this week, says Emefiele
University Press followed with 7.50 percent to close at N1.85, while GlaxoSmithKline declined by 7.46 percent to close at N6.20 per share.
Neimeth Pharmaceuticals lost 7.01 percent to close at N1.46, and Oando declined by 6.74 percent to close at N4.01 per share.
On the other hand, Prestige Assurance dominated the gainers’ terms by 7.89 percent to close at N41 per share.
Veritas Kapital Assurance followed with five percent to close at 21K, while Nigerian Exchange Group appreciated by 4.87 percent to close at N28 per share.
Unilever rose by 3.70 percent to close at N14, while Japaul Gold and Ventures appreciated by 3.57 percent to close at 29 k per share.
The total volume traded declined by 9.1 percent as investors bought and sold 181.19 million units valued at N3.41 billion in 3,908 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Holding Company topped the activity chart with 33.85 million shares valued at N841.95 million.
Transcorp followed with 20.13 million shares worth N26.62 million, while Zenith Bank traded 18.56 million shares valued at N454.67 million.
Flour Mills traded 18.49 million shares valued at N573.14 million, while United Bank for Africa sold 15.15 million shares worth N121.59 million.
