Feyisayo PopoolaEquities listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange opened the year on a negative note as investors lost N134.4bn at the close of trading on Wednesday, the first trading day of the year. The year-to-date loss stood at -1.1 per cent while activity level shrank as volume and value traded considerably fell by 76.9 per cent and 60.5 per cent to 214.410 million units and N1.56bn, respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were Diamond Bank Plc (50.7 million units), Zenith Bank Plc (36.4 million units) and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc (32.9 million units), while Zenith Bank (N413.6m), Dangote Cement (N596.5m) and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (N181.1m) were the top traded stocks by value. The bearish sector performance was in line with the overall market performance as most sectors closed in the red. The insurance index lost 1.31 per cent, following price depreciation in NEM Insurance Plc and Wapic Insurance Plc.

Source: Punch January 03, 2019 02:48 UTC