NEM Insurance, Others Weaken Stock Exchange by 0.01%

By Dipo Olowookere

The main stock exchange in Nigeria fell marginally by 0.01 per cent on Thursday on the back of a renewed profit-taking by investors.

The loss was majorly influenced by the insurance sector, which dropped 0.93 per cent yesterday, with the energy and industrial goods counters closing flat, while the consumer goods and banking sectors appreciated by 0.16 per cent and 0.07 per cent respectively.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated by 4.08 points to 44,604.74 points from 44,608.82 points, while the market capitalisation went down by N2 billion to N24.032 trillion from N24.034 trillion.

NEM Insurance ended the session as the worst-performing stock after losing 10.00 per cent to trade at N3.96, followed by Custodian Investment, which fell by 9.49 per cent to N7.15.

UAC Nigeria declined by 5.21 per cent to N9.10, FTN Cocoa lost 5.13 per cent to sell for 37 kobo, while Japaul depreciated by 4.44 per cent to quote at 43 kobo.

The best-performing stock of the day was Transcorp as a result of the 9.71 per cent price appreciation it recorded as its value stood at N1.13 at the close of business.

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance grew by 7.94 per cent to 68 kobo, Regency Assurance jumped by 7.14 per cent to 45 kobo, Jaiz Bank rose by 6.06 per cent to 70 kobo, while International Breweries appreciated by 4.04 per cent to N5.15.

On the activity chart, Transcorp caught the attention of investors yesterday, closing as the most active with the sale of 104.6 million units valued at N115.2 million.

Jaiz Bank traded 66.7 million stocks worth N45.1 million, Mutual Benefits transacted 13.8 million shares for N3.8 million, FBN Holdings exchanged 12.6 million equities worth N151.3 million, while GTCO traded 10.9 million stocks valued at N277.9 million.

Business Post reports that at the close of trades, a total of 321.8 million equities worth N3.7 billion were transacted in 4,565 deals compared with the 266.3 million equities valued at N3.8 billion exchanged in 4,502 deals on Wednesday, indicating a decline in the trading value by 4.37 per cent and growth in the trading volume and number of deals by 20.81 per cent and 1.40 per cent respectively.