The Equities Market settled lower on Tuesday as Market capitalisation declined by N422 billion to close at N28.567 trillion from N28.989 trillion on Monday.

The All – Shared Index (ASI) also dropped by 1.45 per cent to 52,990.28 points from 53,772.14 points recorded on Monday.

The Month -to- Date and Year-to- Date returns increased to 6.8 per cent and 24.1 per cent, respectively.

The sectoral performance was broadly negative, as the industrial Goods recorded a decline of 3.6 per cent, Consumer Goods fell by 1.8 per cent, Oil and Gas dropped by 0.8 per cent, Banking also dropped by 0.2 per cent, and insurance dropped 0.1 per cent.

The market sentiment was positive with 19 gainers relative to 16 losers. Transcorp Hotel topped the gainers chart in percentage terms with 6.48 per cent to close at N6.25 per share.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), rose by 5.04 per cent to close at N12.50, while (LASACO) Assistance appreciated by 4.81 per cent to close at N1.09 per share.

Conversely, Nigerian Breweries led the losers chart in percentage terms by 9.96 per cent to close at N62.40 per share.

MTN Nigeria was the most traded stock by value at NGN1.64 billion.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) traded 19.76 million shares worth N68.51 million, while Sterling Bank transacted 17.17 million shares valued at N25.71 million.

NNFM dropped by 9.83 per cent to close at N10.55, while Japaul Gold declined by 9.09 per cent to close at 30k.