Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Profit-taking persisted at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday, with Customs Street going down by 0.31 per cent on its return from a midweek break.
The market closed its doors to traders on Wednesday due to the public holiday declared by the federal government to mark Eid-el Maulud, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed.
Business Post reports that market participants did not take their minds off the pressing issues affecting the Nigerian economy, especially rising inflation, energy costs and the foreign exchange (FX) crisis.
As a result, they liquidated their shares, leading to a negative market breadth as the Nigerian bourse finished with 16 price gainers and 26 price losers, indicating a weak investor sentiment.
Vitafoam lost 9.92 per cent to trade at N22.25, FTN Cocoa depreciated by 9.88 per cent to close at N1.55, Oando fell by 9.84 per cent to N8.70, John Holt dropped 9.39 per cent to quote at N1.64, and United Capital shed 7.20 per cent to end at N16.10.
On the flip side, RT Briscoe gained 9.76 per cent to close at 45 Kobo, CWG improved by 9.72 per cent to N7.90, Beta Glass chalked up 9.55 per cent to settle at N56.20, Veritas Kapital appreciated by 8.33 per cent to 26 Kobo, and Cornerstone Insurance grew by 7.88 per cent to N1.78.
During the session, the energy and the industrial goods counters remained unchanged, the insurance index gained 0.83 per cent, while the banking and the consumer goods sectors depreciated by 1.01 per cent and 0.68 per cent apiece.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 203.54 points to 66,448.63 points from 66,652.17 points, and the market capitalisation went down by N111 billion to N36.368 trillion from the N36.479 trillion it closed on Tuesday.
The level of activity was down yesterday after the trading volume, value and the number of deals depreciated by 24.78 per cent, 24.44 per cent, and 2.74 per cent, respectively.
A total of 273.8 million stocks worth N3.4 billion were traded in 6,826 deals on Thursday versus the 364.0 million stocks worth N4.5 billion traded in 7,018 deals on Tuesday.
Access Holdings finished at the most active equity after it traded 45.9 million units valued at N710.6 million, Zenith Bank sold 21.1 million units for N657.2 million, Unity Bank transacted 19.7 million units for N19.2 million, UBA traded 17.3 million units worth N279.3 million, and Transcorp transacted 15.7 million units valued at N93.9 million.
