The Nigerian equity market closed on a negative note for the second consecutive day on Tuesday as the shares of Flour Mills Nigeria led other heavy weights to drag down the market main index by 0.35 per cent. The All Share Index decreased by 0.35 per cent to close at 52,756.62 points compared with 52,944.09 points the previous day.
On the other hand, the naira closed down to its record low at N600/$ at the parallel market as dollar liquidity continues to dry up, creating room for speculations and roundtripping.
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The market cap of equities listed on the NGX decreased to N28.442 trillion from N28.543 trillion as of the previous close. The total volume traded closed with an exchange of 1,323.730 million units valued at N7.72 billion traded in 6,449 deals. The market breadth was negative with 21 gainers as against 27 losers. The NGX 30 Index decreased by 0.42 per cent to close at 2,047.13 points against 2,055.69 points at the previous close. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 141.08 million units. FBNH and Julius Berger were the key gainers, while Flour Mills and Unilever were the key losers. Flour Mills of Nigeria fell the most by 9.30 per cent to lead the market decline followed by shares of Unilever which fell 2.67 per cent, Fidelity Bank share declined 2.44 per cent, Dangote Sugar was down by 1.73 per cent while MTN Nigeria fell 1.73 per cent. However, gained in FBN Holdings was too weak to lift the market index and the holding company of First Bank rose 3.35 per cent at the close of the market. Shares of construction giant, Julius Berger rises 2.35 per cent, Access Corporation rose 1.03 per cent, Lafarge was up 0.69 per cent while Sterling Bank share ticks up 0.65 per cent. Also, interbank lending rate increased by 3.25 per cent as the Overnight (O/N) rate closed at 11.50 per cent compared with the last close of 8.25 per cent at the money market segment. The Open Repo (OPR) rate increased by 3.42 per cent to close at 11.25 per cent compared to 7.83 per cent on the previous day. Traders said system liquidity is expected to improve with OMO repayment of N33.63 billion, the money market rates are likely to remain at current levels, barring any mop-up activity by the CBN.