Nigerian Stock Market Further Down 0.39% as Investors Liquidate Shares

By Dipo Olowookere

The bears consolidated their control of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday by further plunging it by 0.39 per cent at the close of transactions.

The trading session witnessed continued profit-taking as investors rebalanced their portfolios by liquidating some shares that have yielded returns and for others, taking position in other stocks, especially in the industrial goods space.

Analysis of the sectorial performance showed that apart from the industrial goods sector, which gained 0.11 per cent yesterday, every other sector came under selling pressure.

The insurance counter went down by 8.28 per cent, the banking index declined by 0.48 per cent, the consumer goods sector lost 0.20 per cent, and the energy industry slipped by 0.11 per cent, while the commodity space closed flat.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) retracted by 564.79 points to 145,300.01 points from 145,864.80 points and the market capitalisation decreased by N357 billion to N91.927 trillion from N92.284 trillion.

The Nigerian stock market closed with 22 appreciating equities and 51 depreciating equities on Thursday, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.

Lasaco Assurance, Sovereign Trust Insurance, UPDC, C&I Leasing and Wema Bank lost 10.00 per cent each to finish at N4.50, N3.24, N7.20, N7.20, and N20.70 apiece.

However, Juli gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N9.90, Austin Laz appreciated by 9.91 per cent to N2.33, NCR Nigeria rose by 9.43 per cent to N8.70, Thomas Wyatt jumped by 8.19 per cent to N3.70, and Chams soared by 8.06 per cent to N2.95.

The bourse was busy yesterday, with market participants trading 2.5 billion shares for N22.2 billion in 43,515 deals compared with 1.3 billion shares worth N20.2 billion traded in 30,749 deals at midweek, showing a leap in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 92.31 per cent, 9.90 per cent and 41.52 per cent, respectively.

Universal Insurance was the busiest stock for the day with 390.4 million units sold for N577.4 million, AIICO Insurance traded 236.6 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 214.3 million units worth N589.2 million, Mutual Benefits transacted 157.5 million units for N638.7 million, and Regency Alliance exchanged 109.9 million units worth N191.0 million.