BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
Sustained investors’ sentiment on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited has impacted negatively on returns on investment in recent times.
After trading on Tuesday, year- to- date return on investment on the foremost Exchange dropped to 4.39 percent from about 9 percent recorded in early March.
The domestic bourse Index reversed Tuesday’s midday gains —it had been up 20 bps earlier in the session—to settle 0.47 percent lower at 53,498.27 points amid sustained negative investors’ sentiment.
However, the Exchange recorded 16 gainers versus 9 losers as investors sold part of their holdings in mid- and large-cap stocks to book profit. Specifically, the NGX Industrial index plunged by 2.18 percent amid sell interest in the cement major, DANGCEM (-4.17%).
Other sub-sector gauges tracked were positive as the NGX Banking, NGX Insurance, and NGX Consumer Goods Indices rose by 0.27 percent, 0.46 percent, and 1.50 percent, respectively, while the NGX Oil/Gas index closed flat.
In the broad and narrow markets, the NGX Premium and NGX-30 indexes decreased by 165 basis points and 49 basis points, respectively, while the NGX Mainboard closed higher by 39 basis points. Meanwhile, trading activity nosedived, with total deals and value decreasing by 6.34 percent, and 52.72 percent, respectively, to 3,071 trades and N2.05 billion.
In terms of volume, TRANSCORP was the most active stock, with 61.49 million shares worth N85.31 million changing hands in 151 deals.
