Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further depreciated by 0.15 per cent on Thursday on the back of sustained profit-taking and weak sentiment.
The banking space went down by 1.30 per cent during the session and the consumer goods index shrank by 0.09 per cent as a result of selling pressure.
The duo wiped out the gains posted by two other major sectors of the bourse, as the insurance counter appreciated by 1.66 per cent and the energy space grew by 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 149.53 points to 99,134.85 points from 99,284.38 points, and the market capitalisation declined by N85 billion to N56.079 trillion from N56.164 trillion.
The market breadth index was negative yesterday after the stock exchange ended with 17 appreciating equities and 18 depreciating equities, representing a weak investor sentiment.
May and Baker lost 10.00 per cent to settle at N6.03, Fidelity Bank shed 9.72 per cent to trade at N9.75, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 9.52 per cent to 38 Kobo, Stanbic IBTC moderated by 8.77 per cent to N52.00, and Sunu Assurances contracted by 6.98 per cent to N1.20.
On the flip side, Oando gained 9.77 per cent to finish at N14.05, Eterna appreciated by 9.67 per cent N14.75, Veritas Kapital grew by 9.52 per cent to 69 Kobo, NEM Insurance rose by 8.75 per cent to N8.70, and Coronation Insurance expanded by 6.25 per cent to 68 Kobo.
At the trading session, investors transacted 309.8 million shares worth N5.4 billion in 6,765 deals compared with the 308.1 million shares worth N4.9 billion exchanged in 7,690 deals, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 12.03 per cent, and a jump in the trading volume and value by 0.55 per cent and 10.20 per cent, respectively.
The most transacted stock for the session was Fidelity Bank, which exchanged 49.2 million units valued at N483.1 million, Access Holdings traded 42.4 million units for N728.8 million, Oando transacted 28.6 million units worth N394.8 million, Guiness Nigeria sold 19.6 million units valued at N975.6 million, and Veritas Kapital traded 18.6 million units worth N12.2 million.
