Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
For the fourth consecutive trading session, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended in the red territory on Thursday after a decline by 0.86 per cent at the close of business.
Sustained profit-taking across the key sectors of the bourse contributed to the downfall yesterday, as investors liquidated their shares to re-invest in low-risk fixed-income market, especially after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the rates of treasury bills to 19 per cent on Wednesday, with a similar action expected at the bond sales.
Business Post reports that the insurance sector went down on Thursday by 4.19 per cent, the banking space lost 2.33 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 1.90 per cent, the energy counter fell by 0.49 per cent, and the industrial goods sector went down by 0.30 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 878.89 points to 101,227.42 points from 102,106.31 points, as the market capitalisation depreciated by N481 billion to N55.390 trillion from N55.871 trillion.
The stock market recorded 51 depreciating equities and seven appreciating equities during the trading day, indicating a negative market breadth index and a weak investor sentiment.
The quartet of Consolidated Hallmark, Unity Bank, Sterling Holdings, and NASCON lost 10.00 per cent each to close at N1.44, N2.52, N5.31, and N58.50 apiece as Eterna depleted by 9.95 per cent to N19.90.
Meyer topped the gainers’ chart yesterday after it went up by 9.97 per cent to N6.29, Juli gained 9.52 per cent to quote at 92 Kobo, Tantalizers rose by 4.76 per cent to 44 Kobo, Red Star Express increased by 4.05 per cent to N3.85, and Lasaco Assurances appreciated by 3.54 per cent to N2.63.
A total of 478.4 million shares worth N7.2 billion were transacted in 10,957 deals versus the 341.9 million shares valued at N6.4 billion traded in 9,665 deals on Wednesday, implying a rise in the trading volume, value, and the number of deals by 39.91 per cent, 12.50 per cent, and 13.37 per cent, respectively.
The most active stock for the day was Universal Insurance, which traded 42.8 million units valued at N16.1 million, Transcorp exchanged 41.5 million units worth N528.1 million, Zenith Bank sold 31.8 million units for N1.1 billion, UBA transacted 31.4 million units worth N741.7 million, and Access Holdings traded 31.2 million units valued at N729.4 million.
