By Dipo Olowookere
The All-Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) depreciated on Monday by 0.65 percent or 174.21 points to settle at 26,681.31 points from 26,855.52 points.
The decline was caused by the persistent profit taking by investors, which further brought down the market capitalisation by N84 billion to N12.878 trillion from N12.962 trillion.
It was observed that selloffs were seen around large-cap stocks and saw GTBank closing as the heaviest price loser, going down by 90 kobo to settle at N29 per share.
Cadbury Nigeria fell by 85 kobo to close at N9.05 per unit, Berger Paints fell by 75 kobo to finish at N6.75 per share, Dangote Cement depreciated by 70 kobo to end at N142 per unit, while C&I Leasing declined by 55 kobo to settle at N5.40 per share.
At the other side of the coin, Eterna topped the gainers’ chart, rising by 20 kobo to finish at N3 per unit, whole Axa Mansard followed with 15 kobo added to its share price to end at N1.80 per share.
Cornerstone Insurance improved by 5 kobo to settle at 68 kobo per share, NPF Microfinance Bank gained 4 kobo to finish at N1.15 per unit, while Fidelity Bank grew by 2 kobo to close at N2.04 per share.
Business Post reports that the volume of transactions recorded on Monday decreased by 2.21 percent from 197.0 million to 192.7 million, while the value increased by 0.45 percent from N3.5 billion to N3.6 billion.
Stocks in the financial services sector led the activity chart during the day with 113.4 million shares exchanged for N1.0 billion, while equities in the conglomerates space followed with 23.6 million units worth N163 million.
The most active stock at the market yesterday was Zenith Bank. The lender transacted 24.2 million units of its stocks worth N450.1 million. It was followed by UAC Nigeria which sold 19.6 million units valued at N159.3 million.
Dangote Cement traded 12.9 million shares worth N1.8 billion, FBN Holdings traded 12.3 million shares worth N78.0 million, while FCMB exchanged 10.0 million equities for N17.9 million.
Adedapo Adesanya