Equity market extends loss to third day

The local stock market on Wednesday, marked the third consecutive day of closing in the red zone.

The All-Share Index and the market capitalisation shed 0.04 percent to close at 98,023.23 points and N59.39tn, respectively, as investors lost N22bn.

Despite the downturn, 33 stocks registered gains, while 23 recorded losses.

Leading the gainers were the trio of UPL, VitaFoam and Sky Aviation, which gained 10 percent each to close at N3.08, N22 and N27.50, respectively.

On the decliners chart were PZ Cussons and Jaiz Bank, which shed 10 percent of their share value to close at N18.90 and N2.25 each, while ABC Transport lost 9.63 percent to close at N1.22.

Meanwhile, at the foreign exchange market, the naira depreciated by 0.04 percent, closing at 1,631.17 per dollar at the official market.

In the parallel market, the local currency closed at 1,745 to dollar.