By Thompson ABISOLA
Negative sentiments persisted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday with the market capitalisation dropping further by N27 billion.
The market capitalisation lost N27 billion or 0.24 per cent to close at N11.165 trillion against N11.192 trillion achieved on Wednesday.
Also, the All-Share Index which opened at 30,642.35 shed 74.30 points or 0.24 per cent to close at 30,568.05.
Market analysts attributed the persistent bear market to investors concerns toward the outcome of the forthcoming general elections.
They also noted that some investors were off loading their equities to prepare for Yuletide celebrations.
Seplat recorded the highest loss to lead the laggards’ table with a loss of N58.90 to close at N540 per share.
Nestlé trailed with a loss of N5 to close at N14.80, while NASCON was down by 90k to close at N17 per share.
Stanbic IBTC dropped by 45k to close at N45.55, while Flour Mills dipped 40k to close at N21 per share.
On the other hand, Mobil Oil led the gainers’ table, improving by N5.40 to close at N156.60 per share.
CAP followed with a gain of N2.60 to close at N37.25, while Forte Oil added N2.15 to close at N24.10 per share.
Air Services increased by 60k to close at N6.90, while International Breweries grew by 55k to close at N30 per share.
Similarly, the volume of shares traded dipped by 21.48 per cent as investors traded 193.25 million shares valued at N3.69 billion in 2,950 deals.
This was against the 246.13 million shares worth N3.69 billion exchanged in 3,141 deals on Wednesday.
FBN Holdings Plc was the most active stock during the day, trading 25.289 million shares valued at N182.972 million.
Access Bank followed with an account of 24.10 million shares worth N179.55 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 18.74 million shares valued at N36.69 million.
Zenith Bank sold a total of 17.65 million shares worth N406.64 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank sold 15.79 million shares valued at N352.56 million.
