By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was pulled down by 0.09 per cent by Nestle Nigeria, Fidson, Access Holdings, UBA, and 20 others on Monday due to mild profit-taking.
Investors trimmed their exposure to equities in a bid to diversify and try money market instruments, which are giving higher yields amid rising inflation in the country.
They also sold off the shares ahead of the interest rate-setting announcement on Tuesday by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The selling pressure cut off 92.77 points from the All-Share Index (ASI) to 101,995.53 points from last Friday’s 102,088.30 points and depleted the market capitalisation of the NGX by N50 billion to N55.811 trillion from N55.861 trillion.
Business Post reports that the banking index gained 1.35 per cent at the close of business and the insurance counter appreciated by 0.18 per cent, while the consumer goods and energy sectors went down by 1.46 per cent and 0.37 per cent, respectively, with the industrial goods space closing flat.
Despite the loss, investor sentiment was bullish as the market breadth index was positive after the bourse recorded 28 price gainers and 25 price losers led by Nestle Nigeria, which shed 10.00 per cent to trade at N990.00.
Further, Eterna dropped 9.97 per cent to close at N15.80, Fidson crumbled by 9.82 per cent to N15.15, CWG declined by 9.56 per cent to N6.15, and Sunu Assurance depreciated by 9.09 per cent to N1.90.
On the other side, NASCON gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N66.00, Juli rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, FBN Holdings appreciated by 9.68 per cent to N34.00, Coronation Insurance chalked up 8.96 per cent to sell at 73 Kobo, and DAAR Communications went up by 8.86 per cent to 86 Kobo.
A total of 294.3 million stocks valued at N6.7 billion exchanged hands in 9,957 deals during the trading day versus the 291.0 million stocks worth N6.0 billion traded in 7,710 deals last Friday, representing a rise in the trading volume, value, and the number of deals by 1.13 per cent, 11.67 per cent, and 29.14 per cent, respectively.
The most active equity was FBN Holdings, which transacted 73.8 million units for N2.4 billion, as UBA traded 20.7 million units valued at N493.1 million. Zenith Bank exchanged 20.6 million units worth N731.4 million, Fidelity Bank sold 20.0 million units for N205.4 million, and Veritas Kapital traded 12.3 million units worth N9.0 million.
Modupe Gbadeyanka