The domestic stock market index on Tuesday was relatively flattish at 39,251.29 points, despite the enhanced level of activity witnessed in the market.
The number of twenty-one losers which outweighed that of fifteen gainers saw to the marginal bearish turn on the Exchange.
However, analysts at Cowry Assets management company said, “while we saw buying interest in Julius Berger, UCAP, AFRIPUD and HONYFLOUR, it was more of a sell-off on UACN, ETI GTCO and TRANSCOHOT”
According to them, the year-to-date loss of the domestic bourse remained unchanged at 2.53 per cent.
The analysts explained that performance across sub-sector gauges was mixed as the NSE Banking and the NSE Insurance indices moderated by 0.31 per cent and 0.90 per cent respectively.
While the NSE Consumer Goods and the NSE Oil/Gas indices rose by 0.52 per cent and 1.00 per cent, the NSE Industrial index closed flat.
Meanwhile, trading activity was healthier today as total deals, volume and value of stocks traded rocketed by 6.32 per cent, 68.73 per cent and 107.55 per cent to 4,241 deals, 0.36 billion units and N2.87 billion respectively.
Notably, the NIBOR closed higher for most maturities tracked amid liquidity strain. The NITTY moved in different
directions for most maturities tracked amid skepticism amongst traders ahead of auctions on Wednesday.
In the OTC bonds market, the values of FGN bonds moved in mixed directions across maturities tracked; however, the value of FGN Eurobond decreased for most maturities tracked amid sustained bearish momentum.