By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited went into another round of profit-taking on Thursday as investors offloaded some large and mid-cap stocks during the session, reducing the exchange by 0.42 per cent at the close of transactions.
The sell-offs were across the key sectors of the bourse as only the industrial goods space closed flat. The consumer goods counter fell by 3.22 per cent, the insurance sector dropped 0.58 per cent, the banking index declined by 0.15 per cent, and the energy space lost 0.03 per cent.
At the close of trades, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 206.87 points to 48,964.83 points from 49,171.70 points, and the market capitalisation shed N111 billion to settle at N26.420 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N26.531 trillion.
Investors transacted 220.8 million equities valued at N2.3 billion in 3,105 deals as against the 101.6 million equities worth N1.2 billion traded in 3,981 deals on Wednesday, implying a decline in the number of deals by 22.00 per cent and an increase in the trading volume and value by 117.37 per cent and 88.03 per cent, respectively.
Nestle Nigeria topped the losers’ chart yesterday as it lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N1,215.00, Africa Prudential fell by 8.26 per cent to N5.00, FCMB dropped 6.00 per cent to N3.29, AIICO Insurance declined by 5.45 per cent to 52 Kobo, and United Capital retreated by 4.26 per cent to N11.25.
On the flip side, Jaiz Bank topped the gainers’ chart as it gained 9.21 per cent to quote at 83 Kobo, Ikeja Hotel grew by 8.77 per cent to N1.24, Multiverse expanded by 8.21 per cent to N3.69, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance increased by 7.55 per cent to 57 Kobo, and Chams improved by 7.41 per cent to 29 Kobo.
Adedapo Adesanya