Nigerian Stock Market Recedes by 0.76% as Traders Book Profit

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian stock market witnessed a pullback of 0.76 per cent on Thursday, influenced by profit-taking by investors, who quickly sold off some stocks that have gained weight in the past few days.

Shares in the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited were affected, pulling down the All-Share Index (ASI), which hit its all-time high on Wednesday, by 539.48 points to 70,042.28 points from 70,581.76 points, as the market capitalisation depreciated by N296 billion to N38.482 trillion from N38.778 trillion.

Business Post reports that the banking index depleted by 0.85 per cent, the industrial goods sector shed 0.65 per cent, and the consumer goods counter dropped 0.19 per cent, while the insurance space gained 1.56 per cent, with the energy sector remaining unchanged.

The mood of the market was bearish due to the selling pressure, leaving the bourse with 28 depreciating equities and 26 appreciating stocks, indicating a negative market breadth index and a weak investor sentiment.

Chams dropped 9.84 per cent to sell at N2.20, International Breweries lost 8.79 per cent to close at N4.15, RT Briscoe shed 8.51 per cent to settle at 43 Kobo, Thomas Wyatt slumped by 8.42 per cent to N3.70, and FBN Holdings slipped by 8.14 per cent to N18.05.

However, Omatek surged by 10.00 per cent to 55 Kobo, Academy Press grew by 9.83 per cent to N1.90, Tantalizers appreciated by 9.76 per cent to 45 Kobo, Prestige Assurance soared by 9.76 per cent to 45 Kobo, and DAAR Communications increased by 8.70 per cent to 25 Kobo.

At Customs Street yesterday, investors traded 525.5 million stocks worth N6.1 billion in 8,396 deals compared with the 601.7 million stocks worth N11.0 billion traded in 7,444 deals on Wednesday, implying an increase in the number of deals by 12.79 per cent, a decline in the trading volume by 12.66 per cent and a contraction of 44.55 per cent in the trading value.

Japaul finished the trading day as the most active stock for exchanging 92.0 million units valued at N125.0 million, followed by Fidelity Bank for trading 67.0 million units worth N557.4 million. UBA sold 46.3 million shares for N971.3 million, FCMB transacted 42.6 million equities worth N262.6 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million stocks valued at N72.9 million.