By Dipo Olowookere
Weak investor sentiment plunged the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited into the danger zone by 0.25 per cent on Monday.
It was the first loss recorded by Nigeria’s stock exchange in seven trading sessions. Profit-taking dominated the bourse during the session as investors sold off some shares that had gained weight in the past week.
Business Post observed that equities in the industrial goods and banking sectors influenced the decline suffered by the market yesterday, upturning the gains posted by the others.
The insurance counter gained 1.43 per cent, the energy space rose by 0.09 per cent, and the consumer goods sector appreciated by 0.02 per cent. But the industrial goods space shed 1.31 per cent, while the banking sector went down by 0.22 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 117.89 points to 47,436.45 points from 47,554.34 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N65 billion to N25.837 trillion from N25.902 trillion.
During the trading day, traders transacted 279.3 million stocks worth N1.6 billion in 3,781 deals, in contrast to the 99.0 million stocks worth N5.5 billion traded in 2,780 deals last Friday, representing a decline in the trading value by 71.71 per cent, an increase in the trading volume by 182.15 per cent, and a growth in the number of trades by 36.01 per cent.
Regency Assurance had the highest number of shares transacted by investors on Monday as it sold 97.6 million units, followed by Jaiz Bank, which traded 65.4 million units. UBA transacted 22.9 million shares, Fidelity Bank exchanged 12.4 million stocks, and FBN Holdings sold 10.3 million equities.
A total of 17 stocks ended on the losers’ chart on the first session of the week, while 15 stocks were on the gainers’ log, indicating a negative market breadth.
Beta Glass depreciated by 9.90 per cent to N39.60, McNichols fell by 9.68 per cent to 56 Kobo, SCOA Nigeria depleted by 9.40 per cent to N1.06, Jaiz Bank lost 6.82 per cent to trade at 82 Kobo, and Coronation Insurance decreased by 5.71 per cent to 33 Kobo.
Conversely, the highest price gainer was Prestige Assurance as it rose by 9.30 per cent to 47 Kobo, NEM Insurance improved by 9.22 per cent to N4.50, Courteville appreciated by 8.70 per cent to 50 Kobo, Thomas Wyatt expanded by 8.33 per cent to 39 Kobo, and Unity Bank gained 7.55 per cent to sell for 57 Kobo.
Adedapo Adesanya