transaction volume at the Nigerian Stock Exchange fell 65.9 per cent yesterday, as sell pressure dominated activities at the close of trading on Monday. This was even as market capitalisation fell by N35 billion to settle at N13.110 trillion from the opening value of N13.146 trillion. Similarly, sell pressure in the shares of Flourmill, MTNN and Dangote Cement drove the market’s All Share Index (ASI) down by 0.27 per cent to close at 25,132.67 points.
Further analysis of the market showed that volume and value of stocks traded fell 65.9 and 57.9 per cent respectively to 161.23 million units and N1.85 billion exchanged in 3,597 deals. The most actively traded stocks by volume were GT Bank (19.0 million units), Zenith Bank (18.6 million units) and Sterling Bank (14.3 million units) while GT Bank (N472.2 million), Dangote Cement (N437.3 million) and Zenith Bank (N311.5 million) led by value.
“Given the sell-offs that dominated the day’s trading session, we anticipate bargain hunting in subsequent trading days”, Analysts at Afrinvest, said.
Meanwhile, investor’ sentiment stayed positive as 17 stocks appreciated in value, while 15 others depreciated. Unilever topped the gainers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N13.75 per share, NNFM followed with 9.82 per cent to close at N4.25, Julius Berger increased by 9.63 per cent to close at N16.50, Mansard gained 9.43 per cent to close at N1.74, while Ardova garnered 9.41 per cent to close at N13.95.