All Share Index Sheds 757.57 Points

At the end of Janu
ary transactions on the floor of the Exchange, All Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 757.57 points to close the month at 40,571.62 points compared to 41,329.19 points reported in December 2013.
Also, market capitalization lost N221 billion to close at N13.01 trillion, as against N13.23 trillion that closed in December.
The volume of traded shares was eight billion, worth N85.84 billion traded by investors in 110,405 deals, compared to 10.04 billion shares worth N71.12 billion which exchanged hands in 90,765 deals in December.
Financial service sector remained the most patronized by investors as 5.71 billion shares, valued at N41.3 billion exchanged hands in 57.099 deals in the sector.
Some financial experts blamed the depreciation of the market indicators to the increase in cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) on public sector funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Reports say that the increase in (CRR) resulted in the re-channeling of fund to other sectors by investors who did not want to take unnecessary risks on their investments.
The CBN had on January 21 raised the CRR on public sector deposits including deposits from the three tiers of government from 50 per cent to 75 per cent.