Nigerian stocks capped a bearish week with depreciation worth N749.8 billion on Friday as the main equity index shed 1.21 per cent, a retreat triggered by sell-off in bank shares.
It has been an especially difficult week for bank stocks in finding investors, which has set the banking index (the benchmark that tracks the top lenders by market capitalisation and liquidity) on a free fall since the start of the trading week.
MTN Nigeria contributed most to the plunge with support from big lenders like Zenith, GTCO, Access Corporation and FBN Holdings.
The bourse posted a negative breadth as 11 losers emerged against 24 advancers.
The all-share index dropped 633 points to 51,778.1, while market capitalisation eased to N27.9 trillion.
Since the beginning of the year, the index has returned 21.2 per cent.
Credit: premiumtimesng.com
