Bears Regain Control of Customs Street as Investors Lose N259bn

By Dipo Olowookere

Profit-taking activities brought back the bears to the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday as investors rebalanced their portfolios.

It was observed that traders at Customs Street booked profits in shares mostly in the industrial goods sectors like BUA Cement and Lafarge Africa.

This resultantly brought down the local stock market by 0.66 per cent at the close of transactions, with the industrial goods space losing 4.21 per cent, the insurance counter declining by 0.28 per cent, and the energy sector falling by 0.01 per cent.

However, the consumer goods index improved yesterday by 0.06 per cent and the banking sector appreciated by 0.01 per cent.

When the closing bell was struck, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 473.04 points to 70,946.83 points from 71,419.87 points, and the market capitalisation depreciated by N259 billion to N38.823 trillion from N39.082 trillion.

In the midst of the loss, investor sentiment was bullish as the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 26 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index.

BUA Cement lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N93.60, McNichols fell by 9.33 per cent to 68 Kobo, CWG dropped 7.50 per cent to sell for N6.66, UPDC shed 7.14 per cent to settle at N1.17, and Mutual Benefits slumped by 7.14 per cent to close at 52 Kobo.

On the flip side, Thomas Wyatt topped the gainers’ chart after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to sell at N2.75, FBN Holdings increased by 9.93 per cent to N24.35, DAAR Communications rose by 9.68 per cent to 34 Kobo, Deap Capital expanded by 9.68 per cent to 68 Kobo, and Neimeth grew by 9.63 per cent to N2.05.

During the session, investors traded 358.5 million stocks valued at N7.1 billion in 6,433 deals compared with the 361.1 million stocks worth N10.2 billion traded in 5,640 deals last Friday, indicating an increase in the number of deals by 14.06 per cent and a decline in the trading volume and value by 0.72 per cent and 30.39 per cent apiece.

Universal Insurance was the busiest equity during the session with the sale of 58.9 million units worth N16.9 million, and Transcorp traded 24.4 million units valued at N167.2 million. GTCO exchanged 23.4 million units for N916.6 million, Unity Bank transacted 19.2 million units for N31.5 million, and UBA sold 19.0 million units for N404.7 million.