Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock market was down by 0.17 per cent on Wednesday after investors sold off shares in the mid and large-cap categories to book profit.
The decline in the share prices of MTN Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Transcorp and others weakened the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday, outweighing the gains posted by Ardova, Zenith Bank, GTCO and others.
Business Post reports that the consumer goods sector lost 0.49 per cent during the session, eroding the growth recorded by the energy, insurance, banking and industrial goods sectors. They respectively closed higher by 0.78 per cent, 0.51 per cent, 0.17 per cent and 0.07 per cent.
When the closing gong was struck, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 88.71 points to 52,207.77 points from 52,296.48 points, and the market capitalisation depleted by N49 billion to N28.427 trillion from N28.476 trillion.
Transcorp topped the losers’ table in the midweek session, losing 9.49 per cent to trade at N2.29. International Energy Insurance fell by 8.87 per cent to N1.13, Union Bank lost 7.79 per cent to finish at N7.10, FCMB shed 7.28 per cent to N3.95, and Nigerian Breweries declined by 6.14 per cent to N32.85.
Leading the gainers’ table yesterday was Ardova, which rose by 9.25 per cent to N18.30, deputised by Academy Press, which appreciated by 8.90 per cent to N1.59. Cutix dropped 8.89 per cent to sell for N2.45, RT Briscoe depreciated by 8.33 per cent to 26 Kobo, and Linkage Assurance slumped by 8.16 per cent to 53 Kobo.
Transcorp was the most traded stock on Wednesday after it sold 276.5 million units valued at N631.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 174.4 million units worth N1.8 million, Fidelity Bank transacted 31.4 million units worth N175.2 million, Chams traded 18.0 million units valued at N5.9 million, and GTCO sold 15.9 million units worth N365.2 million.
At the close of business, investors bought and sold 670.1 million shares worth N5.0 billion in 6,254 deals compared with the 550.3 million shares worth N5.2 billion traded in 6,250 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the trading value by 3.85 per cent, an increase in the trading volume by 21.77 per cent and a 0.06 per cent growth in the number of deals.
