Profit-taking Further Depletes Equity Investors’ Wealth by N104bn

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited remained rooted in the bears’ territory on Thursday after it further lost 0.07 per cent at the close of business.

This depleted equity investors’ wealth by N104 billion to leave the bourse’s market capitalisation at N159.048 trillion compared with the previous day’s N159.152 trillion. In the same vein, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 159.55 points to 244,956.94 points from 245,116.49 points.

Profit-taking in most of the sectors of Customs Street was responsible for yesterday’s loss, as the 0.10 per cent growth achieved by the industrial goods index could not salvage the situation.

Data showed that the insurance counter gave up 0.54 per cent, the consumer goods space shrank by 0.30 per cent, the banking segment crashed by 0.16 per cent, and the energy sector lost 0.11 per cent.

The market breadth index was negative during the trading day, with the exchange closing with 16 price gainers and 22 price losers, implying weak investor sentiment.

Thomas Wyatt declined by 10.00 per cent to N2.52, Austin Laz dipped by 8.81 per cent to N2.90, Secure Electronic Technology slipped by 6.85 per cent to 68 Kobo, UPDC fell by 6.49 per cent to N3.60, and Cornerstone Insurance deflated by 6.12 per cent to N4.60.

On the flip side, AVA Capital advanced by 9.85 per cent to N7.25, PZ Cussons expanded by 8.58 per cent to N68.95, Tantalizers improved by 5.85 per cent to N3.98, International Energy Insurance rose by 5.42 per cent to N2.14, and VFD Group grew by 3.59 per cent to N13.00.

Yesterday, market participants bought and sold 360.8 million shares valued at N20.3 billion in 31,401 deals compared with the 354.1 million shares worth N23.6 billion traded in 32,585 deals a day earlier.

This indicated that the trading volume increased by 1.89 per cent, the trading value crumbled by 13.98 per cent, and the number of deals contracted by 3.63 per cent.

Livestock Feeds traded 41.0 million equities worth N766.2 million, Zenith Bank transacted 33.8 million stocks valued at N4.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 21.0 million shares for N2.6 billion, Jaiz Bank sold 19.2 million equities worth N149.9 million, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 18.4 million stocks valued at N12.8 million.