NSE Index Deteriorates by 0.10% as Profit-Taking Persists

By Dipo Olowookere

Transactions remained bearish on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday as the bourse went down by 0.10 per cent.

Sustained profit-taking by investors was responsible for the extension of the stay of the bears at the exchange yesterday, reducing the year-to-date return to 4.29 per cent.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 43.78 points to 42,000.01 points from 42,043.79 points, while the market capitalisation dropped N23 billion to settle at N21.971 trillion in contrast to the preceding day’s N21.994 trillion.

Business Post reports that the market breadth finished negative at the midweek session as a result of the depreciation in the value of 27 stocks as against the rise in the prices of 19 equities.

Flour Mills was the biggest price loser as it went down by N1 to N32 per share, while GTBank lost 70 kobo to end at N33.05 per unit.

Also, Lafarge Africa declined by 45 kobo to sell at N27.55 per share, Champion Breweries fell by 37 kobo to trade at N3.39 per unit, while Ecobank depreciated by 30 kobo to quote at N5.90 per share.

On the flip side, Ardova was the biggest price gainer as its share price rose by 85 kobo during the session to settle at N18 per unit.

Zenith Bank grew by 65 kobo to trade at N26.95 per share, Eterna appreciated by 40 kobo to close at N5.60 per unit, Unilever Nigeria improved by 40 kobo to quote at N14.60 per share, while NCR Nigeria gained 31 kobo to trade at N3.43 per unit.

On the activity chart, a total of 504.8 million shares worth N5.3 billion were traded on Wednesday in 5,887 deals as against the 556.0 million equities worth N4.8 billion traded on Tuesday in 7,110 deals, this signified that while the trading value improved by 10.97 per cent, the trading volume and the number of deals reduced by 9.21 per cent and 17.20 per cent respectively.

Again, Union Bank was the most active stock at the market as investors traded 75.6 million units of its shares valued at N434.4 million yesterday.

GTBank sold 60.7 million equities worth N2.0 billion, FCMB transacted 50.4 million units for N173.6 million, Transcorp exchanged 44.4 million stocks worth N45.9 million, while Zenith Bank traded 31.5 million shares valued at N832.0 million.