Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Last week, Japaul was the worst-performing stock on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, losing 23.68 per cent to close at 29 Kobo per share.
It topped the chart containing 40 other price losers in the week, higher than 26 depreciating stocks of the previous week as the appetite for local equities continues to decline due to disappointing macroeconomic conditions.
Courteville decreased by 21.43 per cent to 44 Kobo, University Press went down by 18.87 per cent to N1.72, PZ Cussons dropped 17.07 per cent to N8.50, while Honeywell Flour declined by 14.49 per cent to N2.42.
On the flip side, Prestige Assurance was the best-performing stock, growing by 18.18 per cent to 52 Kobo, Neimeth rose by 9.29 per cent to trade at N1.53, Sovereign Trust Insurance expanded by 8.00 per cent to 27 Kobo, Red Star Express improved by 5.88 per cent to N2.70, while Unity Bank increased by 4.65 per cent to 45 Kobo.
In the week, only 21 equities appreciated in price compared with the 33 equities in the previous week, while 94 shares closed flat in contrast to the 97 shares of the preceding week.
Business Post reports that 823.005 million shares worth N12.228 billion exchanged hands in 17,482 deals compared with the 1.511 billion shares valued at N13.547 billion traded in 20,074 deals a week earlier.
Financial stocks dominated the trades with a turnover of 561.683 million units worth N5.576 billion in 8,388 deals, accounting for 68.25 per cent and 45.60 per cent of the total trading volume and value respectively.
ICT equities trailed with 91.819 million shares worth N1.478 billion in 1,532 deals, while investors transacted 42.546 million units of consumer goods stocks worth N3.396 billion in 2,639 deals.
FBN Holdings, e-Tranzact and UBA accounted for 323.474 million shares worth N2.520 billion in 1,457 deals, contributing 39.30 per cent and 20.61 per cent to the total trading volume and value respectively.
The week was characterised by profit-taking, causing the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation to depreciate by 0.59 per cent to 49,370.62 points and N26.629 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished lower with the exception of premium, banking, NGX-AFR bank value and industrial goods indices, which grew by 0.12 per cent, 0.65 per cent, 0.07 per cent and 0.28 per cent respectively, while the ASeM and growth indices closed flat.
