By Dipo Olowookere
Persistent profit-taking further chopped off 0.24 per cent from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday as investors sold off shares that have appreciated in price during the recovery period.
Yesterday, traders offloaded some equities in the banking and consumer goods sectors, resulting in the bearish outcome reported by the market at the close of transactions.
The All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 113.48 points during the session to close at 47,322.97 points compared with the previous day’s 47,436.45 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N61 billion to settle at N25.776 trillion as against Monday’s N25.837 trillion.
The banking index went down by 2.14 per cent yesterday, the consumer goods counter fell by 0.99 per cent, while the insurance and industrial goods sectors appreciated by 0.16 per cent and 0.12 per cent apiece, with the energy index closing flat.
The share price of Neimeth recorded the heaviest loss on Tuesday as it dropped 7.97 per cent to trade at N1.27, followed by Nigerian Breweries, which retreated by 7.66 per cent to N45.20. Caverton lost 5.68 per cent to close at 83 Kobo, Ecobank depreciated by 5.16 per cent to N10.10, while Union Bank depleted by 4.58 per cent to N6.25.
On the flip side, Chams appreciated by 9.09 per cent to 24 Kobo, Coronation Insurance rose by 6.06 per cent to 35 Kobo, NPF Microfinance Bank went up by 5.33 per cent to N1.58, Jaiz Bank improved by 3.66 per cent to 85 Kobo, and FCMB grew by 3.08 per cent to N3.35.
Business Post reports that at the close of business, the stock market posted 14 price losers and 13 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth and weak investor sentiment.
On Tuesday, investors transacted 121.0 million stocks worth N1.7 billion in 3,022 deals compared with the 279.3 million stocks worth N1.6 billion in 3,781 deals, indicating an increase in the trading value by 6.25 per cent, a decline in the trading volume by 56.68 per cent, and a drop in the number of deals by 20.07 per cent.
Transcorp ended the day as the busiest equity after it traded 34.6 million units, Access Holdings exchanged 11.2 million units, Zenith Bank transacted 9.3 million, FBN Holdings sold 8.7 million units, and GTCO traded 8.5 million units.
