The Nigerian equities market sustained a sliding profile yesterday, occasioned by losses in many blue-chip stocks, especially, Cornerstone Insurance and Universal Insurance, causing market capitalisation to depreciate further by N1 billion.
However, the volume of activities increased by 144.981 million as investors traded 355.935 million shares valued at N2.871 billion in 4241 deals against 210.954 million shares worth N1.383 billion, exchanged in 3989 deals in the previous day.
Specifically, market capitalisation of listed equities declined marginally by N1 billion to N20.450 trillion from N20.451 trillion recorded yesterday, while the NGX All Share Index depreciated by 1.89 basis points to 39251.29 points from 39252.89 traded on Monday.
Analysts at Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “Half-year Corporate earnings in the Tier-1 space is fueling sentiments in the market and we expect investors to ride on this wave in the short-term, while still cautious of the broader market.”
United Capital led the gainers chart, adding 8.00 per cent to close at N8.10 kobo, while International Breweries followed with a gain of 7.53 per cent to close at N5.00 kobo. Honeywell Flour mills gained 6.67 per cent to close at N4.00 kobo. Oando Plc added 6.02 per cent to close at N4.40 kobo. Africa Prudential increased by 5.79 per cent to N6.40 kobo.
On the contrary, Cornerstone Insurance recorded the highest loss, shedding 8.77 per cent to 52 kobo, while Universal Insurance trailed with a loss of 4.76 per cent to close at 20 kobo.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated dipped by 4.55 per cent to close at 5.25 kobo, while NEM Insurance dropped by 4.50 per cent to close at N1.91 kobo. UAC of Nigeria sheds by 4.09 per cent to close at N10.55 kobo.
On the activity chart, FBNHoldings was the most active stock during the day, exchanging 92.289 million shares valued at N687.727 million, Access Bank followed with account of 75.685 million shares cost N711.908 million.
Universal Insurance traded 25.239 million shares worth N5.049 million, United Bank for Africa exchanged 18.385 million shares worth N138.641 million, Zenith Bank sold a total of 14.304 million shares valued at N346.431 million.