Stock: NSE index sheds 0.46% as 36 stocks fall

The equitiessegmentof the Nigerian Stock Exchange opened the weekon a negativenote as 36 equitiesrecorded losses, comparedto 10 gainers.
Consequently, with theexception of theNSE Oil and Gas Index which rose by 4.83 basis pointsor 1.17 per centand the NSE Alternative Securities MarketIndex that closed flat at 1,036.13 basis points, all other market indicators fell.
For instance, the NSE All Share Index shed 0.46 per centor 152.58 basis pointsfrom 33,228.29 basis points to33,075 .71 basis points.
Similarly, the market capitalisation of thelisted equitiesdeclined by N51bn or 0.46 per centto closeat N10.919 tn, comparedto theN18bn or 0.16 per centappreciation recorded on Friday that lifted the market capitalisation to N10.970tn.
Also, the NSE 30 Index, which tracks the performance ofthe top 30 companies on the Exchange, fell by 8.77 basis pointsor 0.58 per centfrom 1,516.67 basis points to1,507.90 basis points.
A totalof 314.108 million equities valued at N4.374bn were exchangedby investors in 4,027 deals comparedto the 293.666 million sharesworth N3.504bn that were traded in 4,107 deals on Friday.
The banking sub-sector maintained itslead on the activity chart, accountingfor 71.6 per centof total turnover traded.
Volume in thesub-sector was driven by activity in the sharesof Sterling Bank Plc and GuarantyTrust Bank Plc. Both banks contributed 75 per centof the sub-sectors turnover.
According to the Exchange, the most tradedstockson Monday are Sterling Bank, Guaranty TrustBank, FBN Holdings Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc and ZenithBank Plc.
ForteOil Plc led the gainers, rising by five per centor N11.19 to close atN235.18 per share.
Itwas followed by eTranzact Plc and Eterna Plc, which gained 4.98 per centand 3.67 per centtoclose atN2.32 and N3.11 per share, respectively.
Dangote Flour Mills Plc was the biggestloser for the day. Itfell by 9.59 per centor 54 kobo to closeat N5.09 per share.
PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc was down by 5.96 per centor N1.90 to close atN29.99 per share, while Portland Paints and ProductsPlc and Champion Breweries Plc declined by 4.96 per centand 4.93 per centto closeat N4.79 and N8.49 per share.
[Punch]