By Dipo Olowookere
The equities market in Nigeria was returned to the red territory on Wednesday as a result of profit taking by investors.
Losses recorded by market movers like Dangote Cement and others eroded the gains posted by banking stocks yesterday.
At the close of transactions, the market faced south by 2.37 percent after shedding N287 billion, with the year-to-date loss rising to 15.27 percent.
Business Post reports that while the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 787.85 points to settle at 32,403.60 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N287 billion to finish at N11.830 trillion.
As earlier stated, some large cap stocks recorded different price depreciations yesterday and they were led by Nestle Nigeria, which lost N30 billion to close at N1370 per share.
It was followed by Dangote Cement, which went down by N14.50k to finish at N200 per share, and Unilever, which declined by N2.65k to settle at N43 per share.
Flour Mills decreased by 85 kobo to finish at N19.65k per share, while FBN Holdings shed 45 kobo to quote at N9.20k per share.
On the flip side, Guinness Nigeria emerged the most traded equity after growing by N1 to close at N80.50k per share.
Forte Oil appreciated by 50 kobo to end at N21 per share, while Nigerian Breweries rose by 40 kobo to close at N88.10k per share.
Cadbury Nigeria increased by 35 kobo to settle at N9.50k per share, while Zenith Bank jumped by 20 kobo to end at N24.20k per share.
At the market yesterday, the Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 329.4 million shares exchanged for N1.5 billion, while the Conglomerates industry followed with 29.5 million equities sold for N153 million.
A further breakdown of the activity chart showed that shares of FCMB were the most traded by investors, accounting for 142.7 million units sold for N222.1 million.
Access Bank followed with 90.8 million units traded for N726.3 million, while Transcorp exchanged 16.4 million shares valued at N22.1 million.
Regency Assurance sold 16.3 million equities worth N3.3 million, while Sterling Bank traded 14.1 million shares for N21.2 million.
At the close of trade during the midweek, the volume of shares traded increased by 105.71 percent from 185.2 million to 381 million, while the total value transacted dropped by 0.75 percent from N2.4 billion to N2.3 billion.
