By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was pulled back by 0.13 per cent on Tuesday by some blue-chip stocks on the platform, which succumbed to profit-taking.
This shrank the All-Share Index (ASI) by 67.98 points to 54,299.76 points from 54,367.74 points, as the market capitalisation moderated by N33 billion to N29.576 trillion from N29.609 trillion.
The stock market came under selling pressure yesterday as investors offloaded some equities in their portfolios. This was across the major sectors of the bourse.
At the close of business, the insurance counter lost 0.80 per cent, the banking index fell by 0.61 per cent, the industrial goods space depreciated by 0.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector declined by 0.02 per cent.
However, the energy stood tall during the session as it went up by 0.54 per cent on the back of renewed interest in shares in the ecosystem due to the rise in the prices of crude oil in the international market influenced by earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment was weak on Tuesday due to a negative market breadth triggered by the losses printed by 27 stocks, which outweighed the 20 price gainers.
Top stocks like Dangote Cement, Cadbury Nigeria, Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings and Access Holdings depreciated during the session, but the worst-performing equity was Japaul, which fell by 9.38 per cent to 29 Kobo.
FCMB went down by 7.82 per cent to trade at N4.60, Royal Exchange declined by 7.32 per cent to 76 Kobo, UAC Nigeria crashed by 6.12 per cent to N9.20, and Linkage Assurance deflated by 6.12 per cent to 46 Kobo.
On the other side, Conoil ended the trading day as the best-performing stock after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to close at N29.15, as MRS Oil followed with a 9.82 per cent growth to finish at N21.25. International Energy Insurance rose by 9.35 per cent to N1.17, GlaxoSmithKline went up by 6.92 per cent to N6.95, and Coronation Insurance grew by 4.65 per cent to 45 Kobo.
On the activity chart, investors traded 200.0 million shares worth N7.6 billion in 4,380 deals on Tuesday compared with the 191.6 million shares worth N4.8 billion traded in 4,359 deals on Monday, representing an increase in the trading volume, value and the number of deals by 4.38 per cent, 58.33 per cent, and 0.48 per cent, respectively.
FCMB sold 28.0 million units, Geregu Power transacted 21.1 million units, Sterling Bank exchanged 18.8 million units, Transcorp traded 15.8 million units, and Zenith Bank executed 14.7 million units.
Adedapo Adesanya