Customs Street Down 0.27% as Investors’ Appetite for Stocks Wanes

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a bearish note due to sustained profit-taking.

Business Post reports that Customs Street was down by 0.27 per cent on Friday as a result of the selling pressure on shares in the consumer goods sector.

According to data obtained by this newspaper, the sector finished lower by 0.56 per cent caused by selloffs in Cadbury Nigeria, Flour Mills, Unilever Nigeria and Dangote Sugar.

During the trading day, the banking space rose by 0.12 per cent and the insurance counter appreciated by 0.08 per cent, while the energy and the industrial goods sectors closed flat.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 183.39 points to 66,915.41 points from 67,098.80 points, and the market capitalisation depleted by N100 billion to N36.764 trillion from N36.864 trillion.

Investor sentiment remained weak due to the profit-taking, resulting in 20 stocks finishing on the losers’ chart and 14 equities on the gainers’ log, representing a negative market breadth index.

Cadbury Nigeria lost 10.00 per cent to quote at N12.60, Flour Mills shed 9.03 per cent to trade at N28.20, Sovereign Trust Insurance slumped by 8.33 per cent to 33 Kobo, Guinea Insurance fell by 8.00 per cent to 23 Kobo, and Geregu Power declined by 7.22 per cent to N315.00.

On the flip side, Thomas Wyatt appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N3.63, Ikeja Hotel gained 7.51 per cent to settle at N3.15, Omatek went up by 7.14 per cent to 45 Kobo, AIICO Insurance improved by 4.48 per cent to 70 Kobo, and Cutix chalked up 4.07 per cent to N2.30.

It was observed that investors pounced on banking stocks yesterday as they dominated the activity chart, with Fidelity Bank trading 28.1 million units worth N230.2 million.

FCMB exchanged 18.0 million shares valued at N108.2 million, Zenith Bank traded 18.0 million equities worth N596.7 million, UBA sold 13.4 million stocks for N254.2 million, and FBN Holdings transacted 12.0 million equities valued at N192.1 million.

When trading activities were wrapped up for the session, a total of 205.9 million shares worth N6.4 billion exchanged hands in 4,986 deals versus the 291.4 million shares worth N4.4 billion traded in 5,348 deals a day earlier, indicating a jump in the trading value by 45.46 per cent, a decline in the trading volume and the number of deals by 29.34 per cent and 6.77 per cent, respectively.