On Monday, investors at the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) stock market lost N16 billion due to sell-offs in medium- and large-capitalised stocks.

The NGX All Share Index (ASI) decreased by 29.35 basis points or 0.05 per cent to close at 54,886.04 basis points from 54,915.39 recorded on Friday.

Similarly, the market capitalisation lost N16 billion to close at N29.899 trillion from N29.915 trillion posted in the previous trading.

Analysing by sectors, the NGX banking index added 1.3 per cent, and NGX industrial goods appreciated by 0.1 per cent. Also, the insurance index was down by 0.5 per cent, and the NGX consumer goods index depreciated by 0.4 per cent, while the NGX oil and gas index closed flat.

Meanwhile, market breadth, measured by market sentiment, was positive, as 19 stocks gained relative to 14 losers. Access Holdings recorded the highest price gain of 7.14 per cent to close at N9 per share. Cutix followed with a gain of 5.69 per cent to close at N2.23, while University Press appreciated by 5.53 per cent to close at N2.10 per share.

Custodian Investment went up by 5.17 per cent to close at N6.10, while Chams Holding Company appreciated by 4.17 per cent to close at 25k per share. Conversely, Ikeja Hotel led the losers’ chart by 9.52 per cent to close at N1.14 per share.

Wapic Insurance followed with a decline of 9.52 per cent to close at 38k, while Stanbic IBTC Holdings went down by 8.52 to close at N36.50 per share. Multiverse Mining and Exploration lost 5.80 per cent to close at N3.25, while Livestock Feeds shed 5.50 per cent to close at N1.03 per share.

The total volume traded went up by 646.50 per cent to 1.172 billion units, valued at N2.877 billion, and exchanged in 3,066 deals. Transactions in the shares of Neimeth Pharmaceutical topped the activity chart with 1.069 billion shares valued at N1.581 billion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with 15.964 million shares worth N128.784 million, while Access Holdings traded 13.033 million shares valued at N114.365 million.

Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) traded 11.770 million shares valued at N15.257 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 9.861 million shares worth N243.759 million.

Analysts at InvestmentOne Research said, “The equities market recorded a negative performance today due to the slumping prices printed in the consumer goods sector. Going forward, we expect investors’ sentiments to be swayed by the search for real positive returns and developments in the interest rate space.”

(NAN)