By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed bearish on Thursday as a result of profit-taking embarked upon by investors.
Investors quickly capitalised on the recent rise in stock value to take gains of equities in their portfolios, leaving the market to settle in the red territory at the close of business today.
The NSE marginally went down by 0.08 percent, shrinking the year-to-date return to 17.27 percent when market closed for the day.
However, despite the market closing lower today, trading volume on the floor of the exchange remained upbeat.
At the close of trading activities at the stock market on Thursday, investors bought and sold a total of 1.4 billion shares worth N10.7 billion executed in 11,355 deals. This is in contrast to the 960.8 million units traded on Wednesday in 8,866 deals valued at N12.5 billion.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 36.50 points to settle at 44,848.74 points, while the market capitalisation declined by N13 billion to finish at N16.1 trillion.
The biggest price loser at the market on Thursday was Nigerian Breweries, which depleted by N4.5k to close at N142 per share.
It was closely followed by Presco, which fell by N3.61k to end at N68.69k per share, and Unilever, which slumped by N2.2k to settle at N45 per share.
Lafarge went down by N2.1k to close at N51.99k per share, while NASCON declined by N1.52k to finish at N19.48k per share.
On the flip side, Nestle topped the gainers’ chart after adding N20 to its share value to settle at N1500 per share.
CCNN appreciated by N1.64k to close at N17.78k per share, while FBN Holdings went up by 99k to end at N14.75k per share.
GTBank rose by 96k to finish at N52.11k per share, while Guinness Nigeria increased by 55k to close at N120.25k per share.
The most traded equity at the stock market today was Transcorp, which sold a total of 211.3 million shares worth N553.6 million.
Wema Bank traded 157.9 million shares valued at N163.8 million, while FCMB transacted 143.6 million shares valued at N516.8 million.
Furthermore, FBN Holdings sold 141 million shares valued at N2.1 billion, while Diamond Bank exchanged 140.8 million shares worth N487.9 million.
According to some analysts, who spoke with Business Post at the close of market today, investors should not worry about today’s slight loss.
They argued that it was normal for some investors to take profit due to the recent boom at the market.
The stock market is predicted to rebound tomorrow, though new highs may not be recorded at the close of business on Friday.
Business Post gathered that today’s loss was the second in the year 2018.
Adedapo Adesanya