Banking, industrial sectors propel Nigerian equity market to first loss in May

By FELIX OLOYEDE

The decline recorded by the banking sector and industrial sector was responsible for the first loss the Nigerian equity market suffered in May after two successive gains last week.

The All Share Index (ASI) shed 15.13 absolute points on Monday, representing 0.05 per cent to close at 29,196.87 points, while Market Capitalization dropped by N5.69 billion representing a dip of 0.05 per cent to close at N10.97 trillion.

The banking sector slide 0.68 per cent and the industrial sector lost 0.53 per cent as all sectors were in the red, except the insurance and customer goods sectors, which appreciated 2.58 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively.

NEM Insurance added 9.93 per cent to emerge top of the 14 gainers, while UAC Properties shed -8.93 per cent to lead the 14 losers.

A total of 271.08 million shares valued at N1.39 billion were traded by investors in 3,814 deals.

And the market has lost -7.11 per cent this year as investors expressed worries over the slow pace of the country’s economic growth.