Economy
Profit-takers Further Wipe Off N137bn from Stock Market
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market further depreciated by 0.11 per cent on Monday, as profit-taking intensified due to waning appetite for high-risk assets for fixed-income instruments.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited crashed by 265.99 points to 239,085.17 points from 239,351.16 points, and the market capitalisation depleted by N137 billion to N154.397 trillion from the N154.534 trillion it ended last Friday.
Sell-offs were witnessed across the major sectors of the bourse during the session, with the banking index down by 0.63 per cent. The insurance counter shrank by 0.53 per cent, and the consumer goods space lost 0.01 per cent, while the industrial goods and energy sectors closed flat.
International Energy Insurance dipped by 9.82 per cent to N3.49, Neimeth dropped 9.38 per cent to close at N7.25, Fidelity Bank lost 6.00 per cent to trade at N18.80, Guinea Insurance decreased by 5.19 per cent to N73 Kobo, and NPF Microfinance Bank decreased by 4.82 per cent to close at N3.95.
Conversely, Red Star Express gained 9.86 per cent to settle at N16.15, University Press rose by 9.38 per cent to N5.25, UPDC improved by 5.97 per cent to N3.55, Haldane McCall surged by 3.90 per cent to N4.00, and Sunu Assurances advanced by 3.33 per cent to N3.10.
A look at the trading data indicated that investors transacted 668.7 million shares worth N23.8 billion in 45,894 deals on Monday compared with the 416.7 million shares valued at N35.6 billion traded in 36,324 deals last Friday, representing a drop in the trading value by 33.15 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and number of deals by 60.48 per cent and 26.35 per cent, respectively.
Fortis Global Insurance led the activity log after selling 206.7 million units for N415.7 million, UBA traded 89.6 million units worth N4.0 billion, First Holdco exchanged 61.7 million units valued at N7.9 million, Access Holdings transacted 33.9 million units for N925.4 million, and Sterling Holdings exchanged 26.9 million units valued at N204.2 million.
