By Michael Eboh
The bearish trend in the Nigerian capital market continued Wednesday, as the value of listed equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dipped by N24.77 billion.

Particularly, the value of listed equities, represented by the market capitalisation dropped by 0.38 per cent to close at N6.514 trillion from N6.539 trillion at which it opened.

The All-share index, another key market indicator, also dipped by 0.38 or 108.72 basis points to close at 28,565.98 points from 28,675.60 points.
Oando Plc recorded the most share price loss, dropping by N4.52 to close at N85.97 per share, Nestle Nigeria Plc followed with a loss of N3.99 to close at N180.00 per share and Total Nigeria Plc shed N2.50 to close at N2.50 per share.

Other share price losers include: Flour Mills Nigeria Plc N1.55, UAC Property Development Company Plc N1.04, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc N0.98, Cadbury Nigeria Plc N0.84, Zenith Bank Plc N0.79, Morison Industries Plc N0.71, Dangote Flour Mills Plc N0.56 among others.

On the contrary, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc recorded the most share price gain, rising by N5.37 to close at N112.87 per share from N107.50 per share at which it opened, Conoil Plc followed with a gain of N2.84 to close at N59.86 per share and Nigerian Breweries Plc garnered N1.19 to close at N51.00 per share.
Other share price gainers include: Larage Cement WAPCO Plc N1.16, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc N0.93, Union Bank Nigeria Plc N0.83, Benue Cement Company Plc N0.77, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated N0.62, Intercontinental Bank Plc N0.57, Afribank Nigeria Plc N0.47.

Equity trading dipped by 16.99 per cent, as a turnover of 399.34 million shares valued at N2.43 billion in 9,775 deals, in contrast to the previous day’s turnover of 481.11 million shares valued at N3.46 billion in 12,374 deals

The Banking sub-sector dominated the other sub-sectors, accounting for 43.85 per cent of the market turnover, with 175.12 million shares valued at N1.66 billion in 5,589 deals. First City Monument Bank recorded the most patronage in the sub-sector, trading 29.65 million shares valued at N255.48 million in 272 deals, Skye Bank Plc followed with the exchange of 19.39 million shares valued at N146.18 million in 483 deals and Access Bank Plc recorded 15.7 million shares valued at N152.7 million in 390 deals.

The Insurance sub-sector followed on the sectorial analysis, accounting for 37.25 per cent of the market turnover, with 148.74 million shares valued at N116.68 million in 1,395 deals. Goldlink Insurance Plc recorded the most patronage, trading 95.62 million shares valued at N60.76 million in 278 deals, followed by Lasaco Assurance Plc with a turnover of 9.03 million shares valued at N9.58 million in 113 deals and Equity Assurance Plc recorded 7.86 million shares valued at N6.62 million in 64 deals.