Industrial Goods, Energy, Consumer Goods Stocks Pull Down NGX Index by

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited witnessed massive profit-taking on Tuesday, especially in the industrial goods, consumer goods and energy sectors.

The nation’s stock exchange further depreciated by 1.60 per cent yesterday, pulling down the key performance indicator, the All-Share Index (ASI), below the 29,000 psychological threshold.

The NGX index depreciated by 789.91 points to settle at 48,554.76 points compared with the preceding day’s 49,344.67 points, while the market capitalisation fell by N426 billion to close at N26.189 trillion in contrast to Monday’s N26.615 trillion.

BUA Foods lost 9.92 per cent to sell for N54.00, Northern Nigerian Flour Mills fell by 9.88 per cent to N7.75, Seplat depreciated by 8.44 per cent to N1,300.00, Eterna went down by 8.33 per cent to N6.05, while NAHCO decreased by 7.56 per cent to trade at N5.50.

On the flip side, NEM Insurance gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N4.40, FTN Cocoa grew by 10.00 per cent to 33 Kobo, Honeywell Flour rose by 9.89 per cent to N2.89, University Press expanded by 9.88 per cent to N1.89, while Mutual Benefits stretched its value by 7.41 per cent to 29 Kobo.

When trading activities closed by 2:30 pm, a total of 18 stocks depreciated in price while 10 stocks appreciated in value, indicating a negative market breadth.

Business Post observed that all the major sectors of the bourse closed bearish. The industrial goods counter lost 5.27 per cent, the energy sector fell by 4.94 per cent, the consumer goods space declined by 3.28 per cent, the insurance index moderated by 0.73 per cent, while the banking sector went down by 0.07 per cent.

A total of 204.2 million shares worth N3.2 billion exchanged hands in 3,533 deals yesterday compared with the 122.7 million shares worth N1.3 billion transacted in 3,915 deals on Monday, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 9.76 per cent and an increase in the trading volume and value by 66.34 per cent and 144.64 per cent respectively.

Mutual Benefits traded 44.0 million shares valued at N12.8 million, Zenith Bank transacted 25.2 million stocks for N554.8 million, FBN Holdings exchanged 22.1 million equities worth N236.9 million, Access Holdings sold 13.0 million stocks valued at N107.7 million, while UBA traded 11.2 million equities worth N78.8 million.