Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Sustained profit-taking at the local exchange on Friday put the value of 27 stocks under pressure at the close of business.
According to data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the market went down by 0.16 percent on the final trading session of the week.
Nigerian Breweries dominated the losers’ chart after shedding N2.05 to settle at N34.05 per share, while Julius Berger fell by N1.50 to trade at N18.35 per unit.
UAC Nigeria went down yesterday by 80 kobo to end at N7.20 per share, Red Star Express lost 33 kobo to finish at N2.97 per share, while NASCON shed 20 kobo to end at N10 per unit.
On the other hand, Zenith Bank was the best performing stock on Friday, appreciating by 45 kobo to quote at N15.25 per unit.
GTBank gained 10 kobo to sell at N20.80 per unit, Ikeja Hotel improved by 9 kobo to N1.02 per share, FCMB gained 4 kobo to close at N1.80 per share, while Wema Bank appreciated by 3 kobo to sell at the 55 kobo per unit.
Business Post reports that a total of 144.3 million shares valued at N1.5 billion exchanged hands in 3,993 deals yesterday as against the previous day’s 180.1 million stocks worth N1.9 billion in 3,889 deals, representing 19.88 percent and 17.59 percent decline in the trading volume and value respectively. However, the number of deals improved by 2.67 percent.
The top five trades by volume yesterday were GTBank, which traded 29.2 million units worth N607.0 million, and Zenith Bank, which exchanged 27.2 million stocks for N416.8 million.
Furthermore, Transcorp traded 8.9 million shares valued at N5.5 million, FBN Holdings transacted 8.3 million equities valued at N42.0 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 7.3 million shares for N12.3 million.
Trading yesterday was good for the banking space as it appreciated by 0.32 percent, but the gains were not enough to rescue the local bourse from danger.
The consumer goods sector was the most depressed on Friday after it lost 1.07 percent. The insurance counter deflated by 0.61 percent, the energy index was depleted by 0.13 percent, while the industrial goods space declined by 0.04 percent.
By the time market activities were wrapped up for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) reduced by 38.28 points to 24,336.12 points from 24,374.40 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation decreased by N20 billion to N12.695 trillion from N12.715 trillion it closed on Thursday.
