Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed below N28 trillion on Monday as a result of heavy selloffs in banking stocks and MTN Nigeria.
The local equity market depreciated by 1.49 per cent on the first trading session of the week on the back of sustained profit-taking, which started some days ago.
Business Post reports that the stock market’s value depleted by N421 billion yesterday to N27.847 trillion from N28.268 trillion as the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 773.00 points to 51,120.94 points from 51,893.94 points.
Data showed that the banking index depreciated during the session by 5.53 per cent, the insurance sector went down by 0.13 per cent, and the consumer goods space grew by 0.07 per cent, while the energy and the industrial goods counters both closed flat.
Like in the previous trading sessions, investor sentiment was weak on Monday as the number of price losers stood at 18 and the price gainers at 16, indicating a negative market breadth.
Champion Breweries topped the losers’ gang after it dropped 9.94 per cent to sell at N4.44, International Energy Insurance lost 6.98 per cent to trade at N1.20, MTN Nigeria declined by 6.67 per cent to N224.00, Transcorp Hotels fell by 5.80 per cent to N6.50, and Africa Prudential shed 5.45 per cent to N5.20.
On top of the advancers’ chart was Ikeja Hotel, which gained 9.48 per cent to quote at N1.27, Transcorp maintained its upward trajectory with a 9.47 per cent growth to finish at N1.85, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance rose by 8.77 per cent to 62 Kobo, NGX Group appreciated by 8.16 per cent to N26.50, and Jaiz Bank improved by 5.68 per cent to 93 Kobo.
The most actively traded stock for the day was Transcorp, with a turnover of 63.4 million units worth N117.4 million. Fidelity Bank sold 41.3 million shares for N210.9 million, Sterling Bank exchanged 22.8 million stocks for N33.3 million, Zenith Bank traded 13.4 million equities for N292.6 million, and UBA traded 10.3 million shares worth N80.7 million.
A total of 226.6 million equities valued at N1.6 billion exchanged hands in 4,373 deals at the close of transactions, in contrast to the 542.0 million equities worth N2.4 billion traded in 3,766 deals in the preceding session, indicating an increase in the number of deals by 16.12 per cent and a decline in the trading volume and value by 58.19 per cent and 33.33 per cent, respectively.
