Equity transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed on bearish note on Thursday as market capitalisation depreciated by N172 billion or 1.79 per cent with major stocks recording price losses. The market capitalisation closed lower at N9.403 trillion from the N9.575 trillion recorded on Wednesday. Also, the All-Share Index, which opened at 27,880.46, dropped by 500.51 points to close at 27,379.95.
Dangote Cement led the price losers’ chart by N8.5 to close at N172 per share.
Forte Oil depreciated by N1.6 to close at N177, while Nigerian Breweries lost N1.1 to close at N140.65 per share. Dangote Sugar dipped by 30k to close at N6.5, while Zenith Bank fell by 29k to close at N15.3 per share. On the other hand, Seplat led the price gainers’ chart by N4.89 to close at N275 per share. 7UP followed the gainers with N3.83 to close at N113, while CAP grew by N1.36 to close at N28.66 per share.
Flour Mill appreciated by 4k to close at N20 and Glaxosmith improved by 1k to close at N18.6 per share.
The Financial Service Sector drove activity in the market as Diamond Bank emerged the most traded stock, accounting for 54.46 million shares worth N57.34 million.
FBN Holdings exchanged 42.67 million shares valued at N132.29 million, while UBA exchanged 20.29 million shares worth N90.62 million. GTBank traded 11.15 million shares valued at N292.21 million, while Zenith Bank accounted for 8.82 million shares worth N136.88 million. In all, investors exchanged a total of 215.34 million shares worth N1.42 billion in 2,939 deals. This was against the 230.29 million shares valued at N2.95 billion traded in 3,002 deals on Wednesday