By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange witnessed low trading activities on Friday, with mild profit-taking depressing the share prices of some blue-chip equities like Lafarge Africa, Access Holdings and others.
Business Post reports that investors decided to stay back to watch happenings in the macroeconomic landscape as some prepare for the Sallah holidays for next Monday and Tuesday.
When trading activities closed yesterday, the market reversed the previous day’s growth to settle lower by 0.01 per cent as the All-Share Index (ASI) lost 6.32 points to finish at 51,557.41 points compared with Thursday’s 51,563.73 points as the total value of stocks on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited went down by N4 billion to N27.803 trillion from N27.807 trillion.
The insurance and industrial goods sectors depreciated during the session by 0.74 per cent and 0.05 per cent respectively, the banking and energy counters gained 0.15 per cent and 0.09 per cent apiece, while the consumer goods index closed flat.
During the session, investors traded 115.1 million stocks worth N1.78 billion in 3,479 deals in contrast to the 143.3 million stocks worth N1.76 billion traded in 3,874 deals on Thursday, signifying an increase in the trading value by 1.29 per cent and a decline in the trading volume and number of deals by 19.65 per cent and 10.20 per cent respectively.
GTCO was the most traded stock as it transacted 17.9 million units worth N364.4 million, UBA traded 14.3 million units valued at N107.8 million, Zenith Bank sold 8.4 million units worth N183.6 million, Sterling Bank exchanged 7.5 million units worth N11.2 million, while Access Holdings transacted 6.4 million units worth N60.4 million.
A total of 13 equities gained points yesterday compared with the 12 equities lost points, with NAHCO losing 7.31 per cent to settle at N8.62.
Cornerstone fell by 5.48 per cent 69 Kobo, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance depreciated by 4.00 per cent to 72 Kobo, Japaul declined by 3.57 per cent to trade at 27 Kobo, while Transcorp lost 3.13 per cent to finish at N1.24.
On the flip side, Caverton gained 9.91 per cent to N1.22, Academy Press appreciated by 9.88 per cent to N1.89, Neimeth went up by 9.40 per cent to N1.63, Courteville rose by 6.52 per cent to 49 Kobo, UPDC gained 5.98 per cent to sell for N1.24.
