Equities Trading Closes 0.24% Lower as Investors Lose N28b

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The first trading day of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) started on a bearish note on Monday.

This was as the local bourse closed in the red territory after shedding 0.24 percent as a result of profit-taking by investors, which pushed the year-to-date loss deeper to 16.20 percent.

Business Post reports that losses recorded by most sectors of the market contributed to the today’s performance coupled with the low confidence of investors.

At the close of transactions on Monday, the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 76.76 points to settle at 32,048.18 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N28 billion to close at N11.700 trillion.

A total of 24 counters recorded various losses at the close of business today, with Unilever Nigeria leading the pack after shedding N2.50k to close at N39.50k per share.

Following was Nigerian Breweries, which went down by N2.30k to end at N80 per share, and CCNN, which crashed by N1.90k to finish at N18.35k per share.

NNFM lost 50 kobo today to end at N4.85k per share, while Ecobank reduced by 45 kobo to finish at N15.55k per share.

On the flip side, Nestle Nigeria led the 17 stocks on the price gainers’ chart on Monday after rising by N20 to settle at N1380 per share.

Seplat gained N15 to finish at N640 per share, while Presco added N5.90k to its share price to close at N65.75k per share.

UAC of Nigeria grew by 90 kobo to close at N9.90k per share, while Cadbury Nigeria also appreciated by 90 kobo to finish at N9.90k per share.

It was observed that the volume of equities transacted at the stock market on Monday decreased by 33.99 percent from 239.1 million to 157.8 million, while the value also reduced by 38.56 percent from N2.9 billion to N1.8 billion.

The darling of investors at the market today was Access Bank, trading a total of 18.9 million units for N156.5 million to top the activity chart.

It was followed by FCMB, which sold 14.5 million shares worth N22.9 million, and GTBank, which exchanged 13.1 million units for N498.9 million.

Wapic Insurance traded 13 million equities for N5.2 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 12.6 million shares valued at N93.1 million.

At the close of business, the Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 131.2 million equities worth N1.2 billion, while the Oil And Gas industry trailed with 6 million shares sold for N46 million.