* Local bourse nears four-month low
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) extended its losing streak for the fifth successive session as the All Share Index (ASI) settled at 48,567.14 basis points, nearing a four-month low on Tuesday, August 23.
The bourse ASI on Tuesday was at its lowest point since April 25.
The market capitalization followed suit in the direction of the ASI as it recorded a N426 billion loss to stand at N26.189 trillion, representing a 1.60 per cent decrease from the N26.615 trillion it stood at the end of the previous trading session.
The bearish grip on the market was caused by the negative outing of such high big name stocks as Dangote Cement, Seplat Energies, BUA Cement and BUA Foods.
This outing pegged both the month-to-date and year-to-date performance at -3.58 per cent and 13.70 per cent from their previous close of -2.03 per cent and 15.52 per cent respectively.
There were 20 equities in the losers’ chart against nine securities in the gainer’s chart.
FTN Cocoa gained 10.00 per cent to become the best performing stock in the session, flanked by NEM Insurance, Honeywell Flour Mills, University Press, and Mutual Benefits as the top five gainers of the day.
BUA Foods, NNFlour Mills, Seplat Energies, and NAHCO populated the top five losers’ charts.
Market activity as measured by both volume and value of trades rose at the session with daily traded volume standing at 204.153 million units, representing a 66.34 per cent uptick from a volume of 122.736 million units traded in the previous session.
Value of those traded stocks spiked by 144.64 per cent in the session to stand at N3.183 billion as against a value of N1.301 billion recorded in the previous trading session.
The financial services sector dominated the volume charts with Mutual Benefits as the top traded stock by volume for the trading session. This is followed by Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, Access Corporation, and United Bank for Africa to complete the list of the five most traded stocks by volume.
With regards to the value of traded stocks, Dangote Cement took the lead among the top five performers. It is flanked by Zenith Bank, MTN Nigeria, FBN Holdings, and Seplat Energies.