Amidst the coronavirus pandemic and its attendant effect on the economy, negative sentiments were reflected on the local equities market as investors lose N2.56 trillion in the month of March.
Newsmen report that the market capitalisation closed the month with N11.11 trillion as against N13.66 trillion it recorded at the first trading of the month on March 2, 2020.
Similarly the All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 21,300.47 basis points for the month under review, having lost 4,918.99.
Following the negative sentiment, equities trading sustained previous day stance as it closed on a negative note on Tuesday, as NSE ASI depreciated by -0.14 per cent to close at 21,300.47 points as against -2.43 per cent depreciation recorded on Monday, thus leaving the Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently standing at -20.65 per cent.
Market breadth closed negative as Glaxo Smithkline led nine gainers as against 11 losers topped by Jaiz Bank the end of the trading session, an unimproved performance when compared with the previous outlook.
Market turnover also closed negative as volume moved down by -9.62 per cent as against 85.71 per cent uptick recorded in the previous session. Sterling Bank, Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank were the most active to boost market turnover, while Zenith Bank and Sterling Bank topped market value list.
Sterling Bank led the list of active stocks that recorded an impressive volume spike at the end of Tuesday session as investors traded 303,455,868 of the bank’s shares worth N348.8 million.
