Nigerian equities market reversed the gains of last Friday’s trading session despite increased number of shares (27 stocks), which posted gains as against 20 stocks that posted losses.

The losses were largely driven by a 9.93 per cent fall in the share price of heavyweight BUA Cement. Share price of the cement manufacturing giant dropped 9.93 per cent or N12.60 to N114.30 per share, down from opening price of N126.90.

Similarly, the fall in share price of tier 1 banks like GTCO (-0.65%) and Zenith Bank (-0.77%) further moderated market performance. Consequently, the AllShare Index, which measures market performance, declined 0.72 per cent to close at 97,880.94 points.

The market capitalisation also declined N403.66 billion to close atN55.57 trillion. The market year-to-date (YTD) return slipped to 30.90 per cent, while the month to date performance moderated at 0.1 per cent.

However, market activities improved with trade turnover and transaction value edging up higher compared to previous session.

The total volume of trades increased by 4.4 percent to 498.27 million units, valued at N11.77 billion, and exchanged in 10,645 deals. By volume and value, GTCO was the most traded stock as investors grabbed 123.92 million units valued at N5.66 billion.