Nigerian Shares Lose 0.02% to Mild Profit-Taking

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading session in July on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) was sloppy and the bears were not merciful as they punished the market by 0.02 per cent.

Business Post reports that the market succumbed to mild profit-taking in GT HoldCo, UBA, Cadbury Nigeria, Oando, United Capital and others.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) reduced by 8.69 points to 37,898.59 points from 37,907.28 points, while the market capitalisation went down by N4 billion to N19.756 trillion from N19.760 trillion.

From the sectoral performance, it was observed that the energy counter was responsible for the decline witnessed by Nigerian shares yesterday as it depreciated by 1.30 per cent. This loss outweighed the gains in the other sectors.

The banking and insurance sectors appreciated by 0.43 per cent each, the consumer goods space grew by 0.02 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.

A total of 20 equities closed on the gainers’ chart yesterday, while 15 equities finished on the losers’ log, indicating a positive market breadth. But the risers could not save the market from drowning.

The biggest loss was recorded by Royal Exchange, which went down by 9.84 per cent to 55 kobo and was trailed by Oando, which lost 8.51 per cent to finish at N3.01.

Mutual Benefits Assurance depreciated by 6.98 per cent to sell for 40 kobo, Regency Alliance went down by 6.52 per cent to 43 kobo, while Cornerstone Insurance declined by 3.57 per cent to 54 kobo.

On the flip side, Tripple Gee finished as the best-performing stock after its equity price went up by 10.00 per cent to settle at 77 kobo.

Ikeja Hotel grew by 9.77 per cent to trade at N1.46, CWG appreciated by 9.57 per cent to N1.26, Wema Bank gained 9.52 per cent to trade at 69 kobo, while Learn Africa rose by 9.52 per cent to N1.15.

On Thursday, investors traded 205.5 million shares worth N2.7 billion in 3,563 deals versus the 213.7 million shares worth N3.2 billion traded in 3,522 deals on Wednesday, indicating a 3.86 per cent decline in the number of traded shares, a 15.45 per cent decline in the value of traded shares and a 1.16 increase in the number of deals.

GT HoldCo was the most active stock at the market yesterday as it sold 41.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion and was followed by Mutual Benefits, which sold 14.7 million units valued at N5.9 million.

Wema Bank transacted 13.2 million shares worth N8.3 million, Courtville exchanged 12.1 million stocks for N2.6 million, while Zenith Bank traded 9.8 million equities valued at N233.8 million.