By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited landed in the bears’ zone again on Thursday, a day after it left, following renewed profit-taking in the consumer goods sector.
The sector depreciated by 0.28 per cent yesterday due to selling pressure on Nestle Nigeria and Honeywell Flour.
Though investors also booked profit in banking shares, it did not affect the performance of the space as it closed higher by 0.68 per cent. The insurance counter appreciated by 0.51 per cent, and the industrial goods index rose by 0.09 per cent, while the energy sector remained flat.
The poor outing of Nestle Nigeria weakened the local bourse by 0.06 per cent at the close of transactions, with the All-Share Index (ASI) shedding 43.58 points to close at 67,335.30 points compared with Wednesday’s 67,378.88 points, as the market capitalisation declined by N24 billion to settle at N36.853 trillion versus the midweek session’s N36.877 trillion.
The worst-performing stock for the day was eTranzact as it lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N7.20, Ikeja Hotel dropped 9.84 per cent to finish at N2.75, ABC Transport depreciated by 9.78 per cent to 83 Kobo, Guinea Insurance shed 9.38 per cent to quote at 29 Kobo, and RT Briscoe crumbled by 9.09 per cent to 40 Kobo.
On the flip side, the best-performing stock was Chellarams, which gained 10.00 per cent to sell at N3.85, Learn Africa was elevated by 9.97 per cent to N3.31, Academy Press grew by 9.94 per cent to N1.88, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance rose by 9.52 per cent to 92 Kobo, and Courteville jumped by 9.26 per cent to 59 Kobo.
Business Post reports that despite the loss posted by the domestic bourse, investor sentiment was slightly strong, with 26 appreciating equities and 25 depreciating shares, showing a positive market breadth index.
The level of activity improved on Thursday as investors transacted 788.5 million shares worth N14.2 billion in 8,810 deals compared with the 569.6 million shares valued at N8.7 billion traded in 8,404 deals on Wednesday, representing a surge in the trading volume, value, and the number of deals by 38.43 per cent, 63.22 per cent, and 4.83 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock on Thursday was UBA, which exchanged 301.0 million units worth N4.9 billion, Sterling Holdings traded 82.5 million units valued at N313.3 million, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance sold 46.0 million units for N37.8 million, Oando transacted 36.7 million units valued at N383.8 million, and Fidelity Bank traded 31.4 million units worth N261.3 million.
Modupe Gbadeyanka