Chinwendu Obienyi
Investors’ interest in the shares of MTNN, International Breweries and ETI grew strong during Tuesday’s trading session on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), thereby lifting the All Share Index (ASI) by 0.08 per cent.
Consequently, Year-to-Date (YTD) loss settled at -12.2 per cent while market capitalisation increased by N11 billion to N13.420 trillion from N13.410 trillion recorded on Monday, resulting into a total value of N30 billion gained in two consecutive trading sessions.
Also, activity level advanced as volume traded rose 164 per cent to 294.41 million units while value traded increased by 124 per cent to N3.49 billion respectively, in 3,337 deals.
Market breadth however weakened as 18 stocks posted losses while 13 others recorded gains. Tripple G topped the losers’ chart with 9.52 per cent to close at 0.57 kobo per share, Sterling Bank followed with eight per cent to close at N2.30, UAC-Prop lost 6.82 per cent to close at 0.82 kobo, Lasaco dropped 6.67 per cent to close at 0.28 kobo while Union Bank of Nigeria fell by 5.71 per cent to close at N6.60.
On the other hand, International Breweries topped the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N11 per share. Cornerstone increased by 8.70 per cent to close at 0.25 kobo, Continsure was next with 8.67 per cent to close at N1.63, ETI advanced with 5.48 per cent to close at N7.70 while Mutual Benefits rose by 4.76 per cent to close at 0.22 kobo.
UAC-Prop was top on the volume charts with the sale of 61.66 million shares valued at N50.60 million. Access Bank sold 55.14 million shares worth N369.35 million while GT Bank transacted 52.00 million shares worth N1.39 billion.
According to Analysts at Afrinvest, “We maintain a bearish outlook on the equities market in the next trading sessions as investor sentiment remains weak”.