BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
In its seventh consecutive session decline, the benchmark All-Share Index slid further on Wednesday by 0.50 percent to settle at 50,188.55 points, following extended selloffs in telco heavyweight, MTNN (-1.30%).
In addition, losses in Tier-1 banks, GTCO (-3.92%), ACCESSCORP (-4.49%) and ZENITHBANK (-1.90%) contributed to keep the market in the red. Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return fell to 17.49 percent, while the market capitalization shed N136.88bn to close at N27.06trn. The decline puts the index on track for its second consecutive weekly loss.
Analysis of Wednesday’s market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions increasing by 39.79 percent. A total of 829.51m shares valued at N4.11bn were exchanged in 4,977 deals. TRANSCORP (-4.72%) led the volume chart with 23.27m units traded while MTNN (-1.30%) led the value chart in deals worth N1.13bn.
Market breadth closed negative at a 11.33-to-1 ratio with declining issues outnumbering advancing ones. CUSTODIAN (-10.00%) led thirty-three (33) others on the laggard’s log while FCMB (+3.33%) topped two (2) others on the leader’s table.
