Photo: Sun News Publishing

Mores Stories on This Section

Banks and insurance equities prices were on a freefall yesterday on the floor of Lagos Exchange (NSE) just as market index shrank further to 62.007 points, as against 62.503 points on Tuesday.

In the banking sector, only three including First Inland, Diamond, and Intercontinental Banks escaped the price slash on the day that saw 19 insurance equities nose-diving to an all time low with Universal Insurance stock dropping 7 kobo to close at N2.99, the lowest in the sector. But the blue chip equities bounced back from the wobbling tendencies that characterized the market in the last two days.

At the close of transactions, market capitalization dropped to 11 trillion even as volume of shares traded rose to 1.07 trillion in 17,945 deals valued at approximately N14 trillion.
The decline streak was believed to be a direct outcome of declining share prices in which banks and insurance stocks which command highest trading volume were worst hit.

Leading again price losers’ chart, Chevron dropped N14.00 to close at N291.00 after it lost N16.00 the previous day. It was followed by Total, Julius Berger, and Ecobank Transactional International Incorporation which lost N11.00, N550 kobo and 500 kobo to close at N239.00, N108.50 and N235.00 respectively.

In the same vein, Flourmill, Costain, Chemical and Allied Products, and Dangote Sugar dropped 400 kobo, 313 kobo, 312 kobo and 184 kobo closing at N88.00, N59.59, N59.30 and N35.08 respectively.

Other losers in the top 10 class were Northern Nigeria Flour Mills with 165 kobo, both Arbico and Okomu Oil tied at 149 kobo loss to close N32.60, N28.49 and N28.51 respectively.
Market watchers attributed the price dip to increasingly high volume of shares traded which hit a record high of 1.074 billion compared with 727.05 million the previous day.

And the losses pulled All Share Index lower to 62.007.43 points from 62.503.03 points.
On the gainers lists, Mobil continued its lead moving further up by N13.12 followed by Nestle and Oando which gained N1.49 and N11.02 closing at N275.66, 262.87 and N231.52 respectively. Conoil, Benue Cement and Premier paints also made top ten gainers’ chart with 644 kobo, 183 kobo, 100 kobo to close at N138.90, N47.00 and N21.11 respectively.
Other gainers on the top 10 category were Nigerian Bottling Company, Guinness, C and I Leasing and A.G Leventis with 95 kobo, 85 kobo, 77 kobo, to close at N58.00, N130.50, N16.20 and N15.85 respectively.