BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
On the local bourse on Thursday, previously accumulated gains for the week were erased as the benchmark index shed 0.90 percent to close at 52,109.43 points.
The market’s loss was primarily driven by the decline in telco heavyweight, Airtel Africa Plc, one of the most capitalised stocks listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
The stock sheds (-6.00%) in share value on Thursday. The decline puts the index on track for another week of loss.
Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return fell to 1.67 percent, while market capitalization sheds N256.69 billion to close at N28.37 trillion.
Analysis of the day’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 34.77 percent.
A total of 334.24 million shares valued at N5.15 billion were exchanged in 5,350 deals.
Access Corporation Plc gained (+0.50%) to lead the volume chart with 64.69 million units traded, while GTCO Plc added (+0.19%) to its share value to lead the value chart in deals worth N1.34 billion.
Market breadth closed negative at a 1.29-to-1 ratio with declining issues outnumbering advancing ones.
Leading the losers’ table is Academy Press Plc with maximum (-10.00%) drop in share value. There are however other 21 companies on the laggard’s log while COURTVILLE Plc, added (+9.30%) to top 16 others on the leader’s table.
