Unity Bank, UPDC, NPF MFB Top Losers, Equities Shed N17bn

• Unity Bank, UPDC, NPF MFB Top Losers, Equities Shed N17bn

Unity Bank Plc, UACN Property Development Company Plc and NPF Microfinance Bank Plc emerged as the top three losers at the close of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Monday.

The equity market opened the week on a negative note as the NSE All-Share Index depreciated by 0.11 per cent to close at 41,172.82 basis points from 41,218.72 basis points.

Despite the fact that the aforementioned stocks topped the losers’ table, the depreciation recorded in the share prices of Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc were mainly responsible for the loss recorded in the index.

The NSE equities market capitalisation depreciated by 0.11 per cent to close at N14.914tn, compared with the appreciation of 0.27 per cent recorded last Friday

The three most actively traded stocks were Lasaco Assurance Plc (24.32 million), GTBank (20.68 million) and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc (16.59 million).

For the money and fixed-income securities market, the 30-day, 90-day and 180-day Nigerian Inter-bank Offered Rate increased to 11.45 per cent, 13.59 per cent and 14.77 per cent, respectively

The Nigerian Treasury bills rates went up by an average of 15 basis points as there was continued sell-off of bills.

Activity in the secondary bond market commenced the week on a rather quiet note with a few sell trades executed on the March 2027 and July 2034 bonds. Overall, bond prices dropped by 20 kobo from the day’s opening levels.

Activity at the interbank foreign exchange market remained low, with quotes ranging between N305.25/United States dollar and N306.25/dollar.

The foreign exchange rate at the interbank market opened at N305.25/305.75 and closed at N305.75/306.25, with a high of N305.75/306.25 and a low of N305.25/305.75 to the dollar.