…As Twitter to ban cryptocurrency adverts on its platform***

Transactions resumed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, with crucial indicators of the market declining.

The market indices declined by 0.04 per cent due to losses by some blue chips.

Seplat recorded the highest loss for the day, shedding N21.90 to close at N700.10 per share.

Forte Oil trailed with a loss of N4 to close at N40, while Unilever depreciated by N2.75 to close at N52.45 per share.

Lafarge Africa was down with a loss of N2 to close at N48, while Guaranty Trust Bank shed N1.60 to close at N45.30 per share.

Consequently, the All-Share Index shed 17.80 points or 0.04 per cent to close at 41,454.30 compared to 41,472.10 on Friday.

Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N14.981 trillion lost N6 billion or 0.04 per cent to close at N14.975 trillion.

On the other hand, Presco led the gainers’ table, increasing by N3.30 to close at N72 per share.

Nestle Nigeria followed with a gain of N3 to close at N1, 320, while GlaxosmithKline added N2.55 to close at N28.05 per share.

Nigerian Breweries rose by N2.50 to close at N129, while Cadbury grew by 70 to close at N15.25 per share.

In the same vein, the volume and value of shares traded dropped by 32.17 per cent and 24.11 per cent, respectively.

NAN reports that investors bought and sold 379.93 million shares worth N5.13 billion exchanged in 4,913 deals as against 560.12 million shares valued at N6. 76 billion in 4,605 deals on Friday.

Access Bank was the most active in the banking subsector with 77.91 million shares worth N885.12 million changing hands.

Zenith International Bank followed with 58.42 million shares valued at N1.78 billion traded, while United Bank for Africa sold 43.95 million shares worth N525.01 million.

Transcorp recorded transaction of 22.93 million shares valued at N4.79 billion, while Japaul Oil and Maritime traded 18.08 million shares worth N12.82 million.

Meanwhile, twitter Inc is to ban most advertising of cryptocurrencies on its platform, joining Facebook and Google in a clampdown on the nascent industry, the company said in a statement.

The San Francisco-based firm will this week launch a policy that prohibits advertising of initial coin offerings (ICOs), a form of crowd funding used to raise cash by creating new coins.

Also adverts that promote token sales and crypto wallet services, the company said in a statement.

The policy will also ban adverts from crypto-exchanges, with some limited exceptions.

Twitter said this month it was taking measures to prevent crypto-related accounts from “engaging with others in a deceptive manner’’, but it has faced calls to go further after bans by Facebook and Google.

Facebook restricted crypto-related adverts in February, while Google announced a ban on March 14 that comes into force in June.