Trading in the Nigerian Stock Exchange Limited post-Christmas ended in the bearish zone as the All-Share Index declined by 0.34 per cent, closing at 73,768.64 points.
Equities lost N143 billion as the market capitalization dropped to N40.367 trillion.
However, market breadth was positive, with 41 gainers compared to 21 losers.
There was a slight increase in trading volume to 432.91 million units compared to 423.30 million units on December 22.
In terms of value, there was a decline in traded value to N12.94 billion, compared to last Friday’s N16.59 billion.
Top gainers are ETERNA, +10.00 per cent to close at N13.20, MANSARD: +9.96 per cent to close at N5.19, MULTIVERSE, +9.95 per cent to close at N15.36, INFINITY, +9.93 per cent to close at N4.98, IMG: +9.85 per cent to close at N11.15
Conversely, the top losers are UACN, -10.00 per cent to close at N13.50; DEAPCAP, -7.25 per cent to close at N0.64; CALVERTON, -6.59 per cent to close at N1.70; ROYALEX, -6.25 per cent to close at N0.60, TANTALIZER, -6.12 per cent to close at N0.46.
Regarding top traded stocks in terms of volume, JAIZBANK (+8.75 per cent) led with 35.38 million units, followed by TRANSCORP (+1.14 per cent) with 31.09 million units, UNITYBNK (+2.50 per cent) with 25.12 million units, GTCO (+0.50 per cent) with 20.47 million units, and UCAP (+3.91 per cent) with 18.77 million units.
In terms of value, GEREGU (0.00 per cent) led with N6.06 billion, followed by GTCO (+0.50 per cent) with N819.27 million, AIRTELAFRI (0.00 per cent) with N798.13 million, ZENITHBANK (+0.26 per cent) with N587.15 million, and UCAP (+3.91 per cent) with N466.51 million.
Meanwhile, the trading sentiment was mixed for stocks worth over N1 trillion, as MTNN (+0.40 per cent), GTCO (+0.50 per cent), and ZENITH BANK (+0.26 per cent) recorded price gains; however, DANGCEM (-2.19 per cent) recorded a price decline that reflected heavily on the overall performance of the market.
Other category members, BUACEMENT, BUAFOODS, AIRTELAFRI, and SEPLAT, witnessed no price changes.
For tier-1 banks, trading was also mixed as GTCO (+0.50 per cent) and ZENITHBANK (+0.26 per cent) recorded price gains. While FBNH (-1.04 per cent) and UBA (-0.39 per cent) recorded price declines, ACCESSCORP recorded no price change.
