Nigerian stocks halted a seven-session streak of gains Tuesday, almost entirely relinquishing the grounds gained at the previous trading session as negative sentiments towards bank stocks weighed the benchmark index down by 0.03 per cent.
The banking index contracted by 0.60 per cent, the only decliner of the five sectorial indices tracked by the Nigerian Exchange Limited, with big banks like GTB, Access and Zenith contributing the most to the decline. A positive market breadth was reported as there were 23 gainers against 16 losers at the end of trade.
The all-share index slid 13.04 points, closing at 39,305.48, while market capitalisation closed lower at N20.570 trillion.Prestige led gainers, appreciating by 9.52 per cent to close at N0.46. Wema went up by 8.77 per cent to N0.62. Royal Exchange rose to N0.42, notching up 7.69 per cent in the process. Champion added 7.46 per cent to end today’s trade at N2.16. Regal Insurance completed the top 5, climbing by 7.41 per cent to N0.29.Consolidated Hallmark led losers, declining by 9.